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

[dasilvarsa]

2 hours ago, splat said:

Sure that will wash out ?
They cant be that wrecked...

Chamois Leather Gloves. Soaked them Overnight but No Go.

Still Usable but Fuggly.

[love2fly]

A slightly different slant ...my roadbike (Ultegra 10 so) rear brake (still rim brakes)was seemingly seized....turned out cable was REALLY toast AND arches somewhat seized/sticking closed ...

Now usually shift cables are a doddle, and the same for my Eagle 1x12....

Cable was so buggered where it comes out of toptube/steerer tube (Supersix Evo) that I battled to get enough slack into the lever to pull it out, but did so eventually ...I was clever enough to cut it but leave an end sticking out on both sides of the frame...or so I thought.

There is a "barrel" that the cable slocks into in the lever/shifter, in the lever, which came out when I pressed the cable out - by that stage I was becoming moderately concerned, luckily I spotted the plastic bushes on each side and taped the thing together to avoid any more leopard crawling the garage floor with a light looking for parts..I'm still missing a cable end...by then I had undone half that sides bar tape and removed the lever as for the life of me I couldn't get the cable to enter the shifter as the lever needs to be only slightly depressed....ok, when that was done I cleverly taped new cable to the old in an attempt to pull it through which it wouldnt so I thought, "what the hell and pulled the old out ....getting the new cable through the top tube was a battle, luckily despite Messrs Cannondale not fitting a guide into the frame, they fitted a removable ferrule into the frame above the rear brake so after pushing and pulling the cable with the bike on its side I got it through....oh and then I noticed the rear arches were partially seized and cleaned and lubed withQ20 ( not bad for once in about 12 years).

What takes 10 minutes in most cases took me an hour and a half .  🤣

 

[The Ouzo]

4 minutes ago, love2fly said:

A slightly different slant ...my roadbike (Ultegra 10 so) rear brake (still rim brakes)was seemingly seized....turned out cable was REALLY toast AND arches somewhat seized/sticking closed ...

Now usually shift cables are a doddle, and the same for my Eagle 1x12....

Cable was so buggered where it comes out of toptube/steerer tube (Supersix Evo) that I battled to get enough slack into the lever to pull it out, but did so eventually ...I was clever enough to cut it but leave an end sticking out on both sides of the frame...or so I thought.

There is a "barrel" that the cable slocks into in the lever/shifter, in the lever, which came out when I pressed the cable out - by that stage I was becoming moderately concerned, luckily I spotted the plastic bushes on each side and taped the thing together to avoid any more leopard crawling the garage floor with a light looking for parts..I'm still missing a cable end...by then I had undone half that sides bar tape and removed the lever as for the life of me I couldn't get the cable to enter the shifter as the lever needs to be only slightly depressed....ok, when that was done I cleverly taped new cable to the old in an attempt to pull it through which it wouldnt so I thought, "what the hell and pulled the old out ....getting the new cable through the top tube was a battle, luckily despite Messrs Cannondale not fitting a guide into the frame, they fitted a removable ferrule into the frame above the rear brake so after pushing and pulling the cable with the bike on its side I got it through....oh and then I noticed the rear arches were partially seized and cleaned and lubed withQ20 ( not bad for once in about 12 years).

What takes 10 minutes in most cases took me an hour and a half .  🤣

 

[ChrisF]

52 minutes ago, love2fly said:

A slightly different slant ...my roadbike (Ultegra 10 so) rear brake (still rim brakes)was seemingly seized....turned out cable was REALLY toast AND arches somewhat seized/sticking closed ...

Now usually shift cables are a doddle, and the same for my Eagle 1x12....

Cable was so buggered where it comes out of toptube/steerer tube (Supersix Evo) that I battled to get enough slack into the lever to pull it out, but did so eventually ...I was clever enough to cut it but leave an end sticking out on both sides of the frame...or so I thought.

There is a "barrel" that the cable slocks into in the lever/shifter, in the lever, which came out when I pressed the cable out - by that stage I was becoming moderately concerned, luckily I spotted the plastic bushes on each side and taped the thing together to avoid any more leopard crawling the garage floor with a light looking for parts..I'm still missing a cable end...by then I had undone half that sides bar tape and removed the lever as for the life of me I couldn't get the cable to enter the shifter as the lever needs to be only slightly depressed....ok, when that was done I cleverly taped new cable to the old in an attempt to pull it through which it wouldnt so I thought, "what the hell and pulled the old out ....getting the new cable through the top tube was a battle, luckily despite Messrs Cannondale not fitting a guide into the frame, they fitted a removable ferrule into the frame above the rear brake so after pushing and pulling the cable with the bike on its side I got it through....oh and then I noticed the rear arches were partially seized and cleaned and lubed withQ20 ( not bad for once in about 12 years).

What takes 10 minutes in most cases took me an hour and a half .  🤣

 

 

We have all been there at some point ....

 

 

I remember an instance where a 2 minute brake block replacement turned into a multi.day ordeal to get the brakes bled properly ....

[love2fly]

55 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

We have all been there at some point ....

 

 

I remember an instance where a 2 minute brake block replacement turned into a multi.day ordeal to get the brakes bled properly ....

The road of good intentions is paved with ...🤣

[Hairy]

kind of on topic, kind of not
 

 

[dasilvarsa]

Got tired of losing My Valve Adaptor.

Now Need to spray It Matt Black

 

 

[Alouette3]

Anyone selling one of these before I go new.... no more learning the hard way!

Edited December 25, 2023 by Alouette3

[RobertWhitehead]

5 hours ago, Alouette3 said:

Anyone selling one of these before I go new.... no more learning the hard way!

I will be bringing in an Airfreight consignment either in December or in January and can just chuck one in the cube for you. The cheapest one I can find is around R370 (landed in SA - this includes, shipping, import and VAT). 

[Alouette3]

Quality on the Chinese ones can be a slight issue. This one is one of the better ones, steel and welded. I'll drop you a message privately.

 

[Mongoose!]

On 11/1/2023 at 3:46 PM, dasilvarsa said:

Got tired of losing My Valve Adaptor.

Now Need to spray It Matt Black... and balance the wheel?

 

🙃

[Chadvdw67]

On 12/25/2023 at 7:51 PM, RobertWhitehead said:

I will be bringing in an Airfreight consignment either in December or in January and can just chuck one in the cube for you. The cheapest one I can find is around R370 (landed in SA - this includes, shipping, import and VAT). 

 

23 hours ago, Alouette3 said:

Quality on the Chinese ones can be a slight issue. This one is one of the better ones, steel and welded. I'll drop you a message privately.

 

@RobertWhitehead, you can put me down for one, either of the 2 options

[ChrisF]

One for the books ..... 

 

Do a proper strip down and rebuild major service .... front tyre has an out of balance weight .... open and see a big ball of sealant.

 

Remove the tyre and pack out the high pressure jet.

 

Tyre over the chopping block and the sealant is removed easy enough.  What the heck, remove the rear tyre and quickly clean it as well.

 

Step back and clean the area around the chopping block with the pressure hose.

 

Few bits of grass from the weed-eater stuck to the sliding door .... while I am at it might as well clean the sliding door..... and the window above it ..... and the gutter and facia above it ....

 

Ooo-damn .... cant have ONE clean gutter ..... next door, window, gutter and facia ....

 

Last section of gutters at the back ....

 

Same along the side of the house ....

 

Just one short gutter at the front, might as well wrap it up.

 

Damn .... the plaster band around the garage door is looking worse for wear .... actually looks very nice now, especially with the paving also cleared of a few bits of moss .....  

 

Actually, few bits of paint came off .... so the plaster band will have to be repainted ....

 

 

 

And the plan was to just top up the sealant ..... 

 

 

En ek moet nog die fiets weer aanmekaar gaan sit .... 

 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

One x trip to Mark's BW coming up soon 😄

[MrJacques]

When you make installing a tube more difficult than it needs to be.

[droo]

15 minutes ago, MrJacques said:

When you make installing a tube more difficult than it needs to be.

Pedros tyre levers. Thank me later.

Also, possibly technique. Make sure the bead sits in the rim bed all the way round before you massage the last bit on.