NACF
Cycling + => About The Bike => Topic started by: sam on May 19, 2012
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This post is about repairing or modifying a bicycle. For other, darker uses, see "Is it fixed?" (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/index.php?topic=130.0) (disambiguation)
(https://i.imgur.com/NNFimrD.gif)©? (https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/?page_id=8)
Poll choices not necessarily in order of difficulty.
I have some odd gaps – I've never taped bars or tightened a spoke! – but I'm now competent enough (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/bikereader/solo/fixit.html) to have become a rare visitor to the surgery. It probably helps that my bikes are simplespeeds.
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It's relaxing working on bikes, if you have the right tools. If you don't, it can quickly become the opposite of relaxing. On the other hand, there's something satisfying about trying to solve a problem...
Another day, another noise. Was it the seatpost shim? (No.) How to remove it to find out? The shim was bedded in, resisting every attempt coax it out with pliers, screwdrivers, and other questionable extraction tools. Nor did the seatpost clamp want to be used as a wrench. Then it struck me: my printer's gauge.
(https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/pics/picasruler.jpg)
I used to be a typesetter, (https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/?p=10886) before desktop publishing came along and gave everybody the serif and sans-serif keys to the kingdom. This ruler was my going away present to myself. No mere memento, it has often come in handy, usually to guide an X-Acto knife for little projects.
I slid it down through the groove in the shim, gave it a twist, then pulled up. It was the perfect size – both edges of the ruler head rested on the bottom of the shim.
(https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/pics/rulerremoval.jpg)
If that hadn't worked, I suppose a hanger could've been sacrificed for the cause, or the pin spanner which became part of my patent pending device (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=50052.msg728611#msg728611) might've done the trick, but I like that my old printer's friend now has an honorary place in my cycling toolbox.
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(https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/pics/bikenoisestages.jpg)
(https://notanothercyclingforum.net/pics/campagdeath.jpg)
Fortunately bicycle repair is on my bucket list.
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Problem
Apparently afraid that pedal may one day wish to part company with crank, I give it so much English a regular pedal wrench won’t Brexit it off.
1st attempt, if you don’t count removing crank+pedal and beseeching a mechanic at a bike shop to remove it for me, to be told he’d probably scratch up the crank and it would have been better not to take it off the bike and bring that instead, which wasn’t convenient:
I fashioned a Frankensteinian tool consisting of a normal human sized pedal wrench, a cut down spare part from a metal shelving unit hammered in shape to grip it, a length of wood, and lots of duct tape.
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wrenchparts.jpg)
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wrench2.jpg)
You get the idea.
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wrench.jpg)
Close up showing fine detail. For avoidance of doubt, it wasn't supposed to bend like that.
Solution
Bit the bullet and ordered Park Professional Pedal Wrench, shown here to scale:
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/kongwrench2.jpg)
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The newest tool in my toolbox is also the oldest, in a way:
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/tools650.jpg)
For over a decade now (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=50803.0) I’ve been trying to keep this Litespeed quiet:
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/litespeed650.jpg)
No matter what I do, eventually it starts creaking again.
I give up.
on edit: or not
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The impossible has happened. ↑ is currently being examined by a mechanic, apparently happy in his work, (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=52410.0) who has made it his mission to find the source.
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/faintingcouch.jpg)
Good thing I had this fainting couch installed at NACF.
He's had it for over a week now, fitting it in whenever possible. I'm just leaving him to it, fingers crossed.
UPDATE: He kept it for a month+. Couldn’t figure it out. Didn’t charge me(!), while at the same time crossing stuff off the list. After bringing it home I then had the idea of swapping out the chainring, which seemed an unlikely culprit, but presto! Quiet. Until next time.
UPDATE: This saga is now spread across multiple threads and forums. As of late January '22 the bike is free of unauthorised noises.
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Brain: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Me: Yes sir.
Brain: Are you listening?
Me: Yes, I am.
Brain: Zip tie.
Me: That’s two words.
Brain: Whatever. It should stop the mudguard on the Litespeed from rattling where the mount, well, unmounted. Easiest fix in the world. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Me: That’s your job.
Brain: Then just do it.
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ziptie650.jpg)
Me: It worked! The bike is quiet again! Why didn't I think of that?
Brain: Beats me... You couldn’t clean that up for the picture?
Me: Bothering your anterior insula, is it?
Brain: My what?
Me: According to Scientific American in The Neuroscience of Beauty, (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-neuroscience-of-beauty/) that's the specific part of you which is involved in aesthetic appraisal.
Brain: Beauty might be pushing it. You realise we're talking about a zip tie, right? By the way, some people call those cable ties. They might be thinking 'WTF is a zip tie?'
Me: Then we've just expanded those people's vocabulary, haven't we.
Brain: About this anterior insula. Surely it's more complicated than that.
Me: It is, and don't call me Shirley.
(https://prettygoodbritain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/insularcortex.gif)
Brain: You know I saw that coming a mile off.
Me: Read the article and see for yourself. Then head over to the page on neuroesthetics and consider Ramachandran's eight laws of artistic experience. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroesthetics#Ramachandran's_eight_laws_of_artistic_experience)
Brain: I'll be sure to put that on my to do list.
Me: Is your dance card really that full?
Brain: Which part of me decides when to wrap this up?
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Give me a sticky enough lever, in this case with the help of loctite, and I shall remove the rounded chainring bolt.
(https://i.imgur.com/xCYFVd0.jpg)
Others must have arrived at this solution long before it occurred to me, but if so, I have yet to see it in the literature.* Beats drilling ~ especially if you're no good at drilling ~ that's for sure.
* on edit: Meaning in all my searches. Until now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmvIsJwOVMo&t=4m13s). Even so I had to specifically search for it. It tends to be all drilling or jamming things in.
PS. I'm afraid to watch that video.
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Chains 'stretch', or wear out. (So do hearts.) "Chain's a bit slack" went the common admonition on forums I used to frequent. Being the owner of a perfect gear'd Litespeed,
(https://i.imgur.com/xy8Qu4L.jpg)
True Love
the state of the heart of my bike
(https://i.imgur.com/ZRXFUTL.jpg) (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=51308.0)
is something that needs particular attention.
Having solved one tormenting (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/index.php?topic=3939.0) issue, another threatened to rear its head: the curse of being too tight.
(https://i.imgur.com/zbr6eYq.jpg)
As well as causing premature wear on components, it's just plain noisy, as cogs aren't perfectly round and so the teeth on one side bite in, particularly when it's under strain. This must have come up before in the 14 or so years I've run this singlespeed, but I never paid much attention because mea culpa I'm almost always listening to music,
and anyway, would have figured they stretch in time.
It might not have been a bad idea to educate myself on this subject before now. Bikeforums, what say ye?
The chain should be just right Goldilocks.
The chain should be as loose as it can be without falling off.
THIS IS TRUTH. (https://www.bikeforums.net/10866452-post14.html)
I wish people would reverse their thinking on this. Chains should be loose, not tight. You'll probably be able to see sag in the chain all the way around with the cranks. That's great, as long as you can't derail your chain (careful with your fingers.)
I'm going to go ahead and accept twelsch42's truth unless a better one comes along. This does, however, present me with a problem. How to never run a chain which isn't too tight on a bike with only one setting, as it were?
Unless that half-link I have on order does the trick (I have a vague memory of trying that before), it looks like I'll need to wear in chains destined for the Litespeed on one of my bikes with horizontal dropouts, which means installing larger chainring and cog on the donor bike as the chain has to be long enough for a transplant. Either that or see if anyone sells them pre-stretched. (https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-mechanics/248516-prestretched-chain.html) Now there's an untapped market...
Update: Of course, the half-link made it too long. Two bikes are now on stretching duty, but I should probably give Sheldon Brown's axle filing trick a go.
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At the risk of tempting fate.
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Actually something did need doing, I've been procrastinating. Also I needed to order a file.
If the congregation will turn back to the Old Testament Book of Sheldon, (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=52945.msg729009#msg729009) the chapter called Derailerless Bicycle Drivetrains, the verses about Kludges: (https://www.sheldonbrown.com/no-derailers.html#workarounds)
It is also possible to grind or file a flat on each end of the axle to allow a bit more adjustment.
Fortunately I had an old wheel to practice on, as it's not easy getting both sides flat at exactly the same spot. In fact I didn't quite manage it either time. Even so, it worked! To my surprise. Doesn't take much to make a big difference.
Unfortunately no pics, so technically none of this happened.
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Had to call emergency services (https://archive.ph/oHss9#selection-3763.173-3763.191) after a roadside fix gone wrong.
The seatpost has been slipping. I tightened it to the limit of tightenability before my ride, then marked the post with tape to see if it kept going down. It did.
It then struck me that this is likely because I'd temporarily swapped posts with a metal one which has anti-seize on it, which I hadn't wiped off before reinstalling the carbon post.
I had some paper towels in my saddlebag, so I stopped to do that. Unfortunately I broke the bolt in the process of unclenching it. (I actually had a spare clamp as well – but the wrong size!) If it weren't for the saddlebag, too heavy to safely hold or hook on my handlebars, I would've just ridden home out of the saddle. Even walking seemed preferable to a callout, but it's 5 miles, which while hardly a marathon, was too much of a hairshirt approach when there was someone who could be roused from her cozy nest.
. . .
On order: a new clamp, because I can't extract the remainder of the bolt. It rattles around, taunting me. (I considered loctiting (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/index.php?topic=91.msg14554#msg14554) it out, but not sure how hold the extraction tool, probably another allen key, to the end of the bolt until it sets. And no, that verb will never catch on.)
(https://i.imgur.com/w9oZnvp.jpg)
Also on the way is a torque wrench which looks like it was made on Blue Peter, but which reviews assure me does indeed mostly work.
(https://i.imgur.com/XZYqlU1.jpg)
Also beats eggs
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Update:
I have some odd gaps (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=13838.msg717995#msg717995) – I've never taped bars or tightened a spoke!
Still not in a hurry to mess with spokes. I'll leave that to quantum qualified mechanics.
Actually, if I had a proper workshop – the great outdoors isn't the ideal workspace – I might consider getting into wheels.
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Sabbath #2 leans to the right when I ride it no-handed, which of course won't do. I don't know what's causing it, but I know how to fix it. Went to the ironmongers in search of a spacer that might fit neatly in the cradle of the dropout on the right side of the fork. This was an "I'll know it when I see it" mission.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZV1l9Dy.jpg)
The mission was a failure, but I found success back home in the form of a rear light bracket strap,
(https://i.imgur.com/IwMhzLa.jpg)
which unlike the lawnmower (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xVqbAiYvsEc) part (even if it had fit in the cup), was easy to cut, yielding a piece that was the right size.
(https://i.imgur.com/qH0rocq.jpg)
That's not the right size. It's just the version I have a decent picture of. The piece now in use is about half that: enough to fit in the end of the U, but not crowd out the axle. The first time I have a puncture I'll likely lose it in the weeds by the side of the road, so should glue it down. Though as you can see from the length of the strap, there are plenty of spares.
I measured both sides of the fork and can definitely probably say the left is 1mm longer than the right. That may be what's causing the imbalance. Will be testing this theory by trying an old carbon fork, which while it gave years of hands-free service and theoretically could do again, now has bubbly paint near where the tines join the alloy crown, leaving me to wonder if the NHS covers X-rays for bike parts.
Speaking of shorty, I watched this again the other day.
Still the best cycling movie (https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/acf/index.php?topic=52929.0) ever made.
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The test fork test was inconclusive – it wasn't quite the right size or angle or something (I know the wheelbase was slightly off). Fortunately my bodge is continuing to do the trick, though it's admittedly disturbing from this vantage.
(https://i.imgur.com/a2HETUX.jpg)
Found a brake calliper spacer I'd dropped yesterday. Which was nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/UOnAYyk.jpg)
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A rattling sound. Though I strongly feel that the criterion of truth is not sensory, listening to it would truly drive me up a wall. Using my well-honed powers of deduction, I quickly located the culprit:
(https://i.imgur.com/5zMUuR0.jpg)
Raw philosophy wasn't going to fix it. I needed an actual tool.
(https://i.imgur.com/blEVmii.jpg)
Preferably the right tool for the job.
(https://i.imgur.com/GGzUels.jpg)
The roots of 'Bontrager' are 'bone' and 'trager', which if my Latin isn't too rusty means 'trickster'. This combines to make no sense.
(https://i.imgur.com/VdbYLmU.jpg)
Turn clockwise to tighten. Or counterclockwise. I'm a philosopher, not a mechanic, damnit.
If you turn one way far enough it doesn't become the other way. Remember this.
Note the missing bolt. Hegel would have something to say about that.
(https://i.imgur.com/2W5iQ0A.jpg)
Next on the agenda: a search for a matching bolt using Cartesian methods.