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

[The Ouzo]

15 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

 

About 4 000 km on the roadie, and still no wear to measure.

 

My view (and i could always be wrong), is that a chain is cheap item to replace compared to the rest of the drive train. As long as its not badly designed and causing more wear than it should, then buy a cheap chain and replace often. Sacrifice the chain rather than the rest of the drivetrain.

My current KMC X11 has done 3 874km, and according to my IceToolz chain wear tool it is showing no signs of wear.

[mazambaan]

Ok, something new to me. I have been riding in mud and long grass a lot recently and decided to clean out the Giant ebike belly pan; a flimsy bit of ill fitting plastic holding a rat nest of randomly coiled wires and held on with allen screws usually seen in a cheap watch. One of these toy screws is behind the chain ring so this has to come off to access the screw 👿.  But all good, cleaned out and replaced with limited cussing although the countersunk little allen screws have cracked the paper thin retaining tabs (not me but some other ham fister). Holding though.

Then replace the chain ring but find that it's easier to remove the chain guide upper and outer plastic cover to get the ring in place then Loctite on the retainers and torque to 10Nm.

Proceeding, try and put the chain guide outer back only to find that there is a loose nut behind it and, luckily, this has only slipped down in the groove not departed to the cobwebs under the work bench. But getting it back proved a bastid as it had to be fished up with a pick then there isn't space to hold it in place, I ain't taking the chain ring off again so have to rely on serious cussing plus a small screwdriver and Presstick. Finally got done, breath sigh of relief and try to remember for next time. Bastid thing.

 

[Steady Spin]

Not all chain checkers are the same..

CC2 vs CC3.2 vs CC4

[dasilvarsa]

38 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Not all chain checkers are the same..

CC2 vs CC3.2 vs CC4

Gives a good average.

Edited March 25, 2023 by dasilvarsa

[The Ouzo]

When looking for parts, make sure you reach out to the correct manufacturer.

 

The padding in my helmet is starting to come apart in a few places, I thought I'd start investigating replacement costs for the padding.

Jumped onto the Livall website, could not see padding listed so popped them a message.

One of the representatives contacted me via whatsapp, asked for pictures of my helmet, all I had was a picture of the model number which I sent him.

He responds with " I dont recognise that model, are you sure its a Livall, or a Limar".

Ooooppsss. I contacted the wrong manufacturer, dont know why my brain was telling me its a Livall.

But I must commend him, even after I apologised for the mistake, he still offered to assist in finding suitable replacement pads should I not come right with Limar.

[Zebra]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:40 PM, mazambaan said:

…..a flimsy bit of ill fitting plastic holding a rat nest of randomly coiled wires and held on with allen screws usually seen in a cheap watch. One of these toy screws is…

…you have a WAY with words, I had a GOOD chuckle, could almost HEAR the frustration in your words! Re-read it twice, yes, a good chuckle. And informative, too!
Cheers

Chris

[MORNE]

Yes you will drop that grub screw and lose it, and no you don’t have a spare in your screws box…because who does……… 

[Paul Ruinaard]

what are some brands of ebike chains or how do you recognize them.

 

[MrJacques]

12 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

what are some brands of ebike chains or how do you recognize them.

 

They will usually say that they're for e-bike, e.g. KMC X12E.

[ChrisF]

23 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

what are some brands of ebike chains or how do you recognize them.

 

 

KMC has a very nice ebike chain. I typically buy it at Evobikes

 

More often than not the Shimano ebike chain is the 116-link chain ....  then you get home to realise it is too short.

[MrJacques]

Done with oil based lubes, what a mess to clean a chain that's been oiled. (Road bike).

[dasilvarsa]

2 minutes ago, MrJacques said:

Done with oil based lubes, what a mess to clean a chain that's been oiled. (Road bike).

1/2 Wax 1/2 Mineral Oil is also cr@p

100% Wax Water Emulsion is the way to Go (Squirt or Smoove)

[MrJacques]

22 minutes ago, dasilvarsa said:

1/2 Wax 1/2 Mineral Oil is also cr@p

100% Wax Water Emulsion is the way to Go (Squirt or Smoove)

Smoove is on my short list, I'm keen to give it a try.

I'm also keen to give Wurth HHS a try, but it's a spray on wax lube, so I'd put it into a syringe to drip onto the chain.

Ona related note, it's a pity that we don't get Pedros products here anymore. Their degreaser is the best I've used, the oil dissolves so easily. Their other products (e.g. bike polish) and tools are very nice as well.

[ChrisF]

A few weeks back I had a nasty high speed tumble during an event outside Ashton.

 

Three consecutive LONG and very STEEP downhill sections, well actually just one massive long section with turns that created the impression of a 150m section at a time.

 

By the end of the second section the brakes on my bike started glazing/over heating ..... by the third section I was hanging on for dear life and hoping the trail would level out after the next turn ..... not to be.

 

Thankfully no broken bones, just a lot of roasties, and some very tender spots for a few weeks.  More importantly, just a torn bar grip, no other damage.

 

 

 

So, time to figure out why  the brakes overheated .... any technical issues other than simply the length and gradient ?

 

 

Checking the bike around the block all seemed fine.

 

30km ride of the local trails, deliberately including some short steep declines.  Sessioning a few sections to test long slow braking vs short fast braking .... still all seems fine.

 

The next weekend I repeated some of these tests, and ended it off with a decent of Odendaal ..... tar, long, steep ....  I deliberately picked up a lot of speed at the top of the hill, and then did some hard braking during the first half.  Fine ... fine ... uhmmm .... followed by a horrible grinding sound ....  Stopped, checked, all looks fine.  Ride, stop, fine ...  I repeat the fast steep test, and again it starts grinding towards the end of the hard braking.  

 

PS - Now I KNOW how this bike handles down Odendaal, and how the brakes react to hard braking from 70km/h down to stopping.

 

Okay, so something IS wrong.  But visually all seems good, normal trail riding the bike test fine.

 

 

Off to the LBS ..... one look, and he points to the "slight ridge" on the brake rotor.

 

Back at home, time to play with the micrometer ....

 

Shimano rotors are sold at about 1,8mm thickness, actually measured as 1,76mm with a micrometer.

 

 

Front brake disc looks very good .... but measure in at 1,41mm.   Shimano recommending a minimum of 1,5mm disc thickness.

 

 

Rear disc has worked hard and measures in at 1,06mm   Clearly that "little ridge" should be treated as a big red flag !!

 

 

 

New rotors fitted.  New brake pads fitted.   ..... need to do the Shimano bleed-cup thing to get some space between the new pads for the new thick rotors.  (will do that in day light)

 

 

GLAD I bought rotors a while back when they had stock.  No stock today .....

 

 

 

feedback from the more experienced riders and mechanics will be appreciated.  Is this type of overheating/glazing typical of rotors that are too thin ?  Any recommendations ?

[ChrisF]

55 minutes ago, BaGearA said:

They were simply worn out 

 

I have seen brakes overheat and get contaminated but have never seen glazing with my own eyes.

 

I'm fairly light on rotors but only use metal pads so my rotors last about two years if I don't smash them

 

Like your pads they're consumables, but you might benefit from uping in size.

 

Ie move the fromt rotor to the rear and go 20mm larger infront , should significantly improve power and hopefully you then you use them slightly less and get better life.

 

 

There's also something to be said for a good rotor, I've always been on XT ice tech's but almost 6 months on sram Centreline's and really can't tell a difference in performance. But i would not expect the same from a 1R90 Solomon's special 

 

Shimano 203 rotors, front and rear.  4-pod XT brakes, with resin pads.

 

As you say, just normal wear and tear.

 

 

In the spirit of this thread : "What have we learnt" .....

1. A slight ridge on a brake rotor deserves a closer look !!

2. The brakes still work perfectly in all other conditions .... but overheating when the downhill carries on aint "fun" ....

 

 

Maybe a topic for another post .... resin vs metal pads ....

Edited April 15, 2023 by ChrisF

[love2fly]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

A few weeks back I had a nasty high speed tumble during an event outside Ashton.

 

Three consecutive LONG and very STEEP downhill sections, well actually just one massive long section with turns that created the impression of a 150m section at a time.

 

By the end of the second section the brakes on my bike started glazing/over heating ..... by the third section I was hanging on for dear life and hoping the trail would level out after the next turn ..... not to be.

 

Thankfully no broken bones, just a lot of roasties, and some very tender spots for a few weeks.  More importantly, just a torn bar grip, no other damage.

 

 

 

So, time to figure out why  the brakes overheated .... any technical issues other than simply the length and gradient ?

 

 

Checking the bike around the block all seemed fine.

 

30km ride of the local trails, deliberately including some short steep declines.  Sessioning a few sections to test long slow braking vs short fast braking .... still all seems fine.

 

The next weekend I repeated some of these tests, and ended it off with a decent of Odendaal ..... tar, long, steep ....  I deliberately picked up a lot of speed at the top of the hill, and then did some hard braking during the first half.  Fine ... fine ... uhmmm .... followed by a horrible grinding sound ....  Stopped, checked, all looks fine.  Ride, stop, fine ...  I repeat the fast steep test, and again it starts grinding towards the end of the hard braking.  

 

PS - Now I KNOW how this bike handles down Odendaal, and how the brakes react to hard braking from 70km/h down to stopping.

 

Okay, so something IS wrong.  But visually all seems good, normal trail riding the bike test fine.

 

 

Off to the LBS ..... one look, and he points to the "slight ridge" on the brake rotor.

 

Back at home, time to play with the micrometer ....

 

Shimano rotors are sold at about 1,8mm thickness, actually measured as 1,76mm with a micrometer.

 

 

Front brake disc looks very good .... but measure in at 1,41mm.   Shimano recommending a minimum of 1,5mm disc thickness.

 

 

Rear disc has worked hard and measures in at 1,06mm   Clearly that "little ridge" should be treated as a big red flag !!

 

 

 

New rotors fitted.  New brake pads fitted.   ..... need to do the Shimano bleed-cup thing to get some space between the new pads for the new thick rotors.  (will do that in day light)

 

 

GLAD I bought rotors a while back when they had stock.  No stock today .....

 

 

 

feedback from the more experienced riders and mechanics will be appreciated.  Is this type of overheating/glazing typical of rotors that are too thin ?  Any recommendations ?

I was once told by a guy at AutoZone that on a car a 1mm drop in thickness (so a 1mm lip) which as a % of a car disc isn't much, equates to a 100 degree increase in temp. I'm guessing the less metal you have the higher the temperature, which feeds into the fluid, plus the pistons are at max extension.