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kimbo305 posted:Picking up the last 'open ticket' from old thread:  kimbo305 posted:I've certainly seen my share of inner tubes that can hold air when the tires are dry rotted, but I suspect many would have issues like my own junk bike pulled from a pile of leaves. The inner tube held up for a few months (!) before it split open at the valve. Good points. I'll ask the bike shop when I call them today about rims, after I go out to the garage and see if I can figure out what my current rims are made of. Presumably there's a way to make sure I get rims that fit my bike (and the rear sprocket can migrate). If I have to go that way, getting modern wheels (i.e. new standard 700C) is probably worthwhile, too. Brakes are high on the list of fix-it-before-riding-it stuff, new pads are almost certainly in the cards. Thanks again for your pulled-from-leaves insight, that's exactly the kind of previous experience I was hoping to learn from. EDIT: out of curiosity, the better stopping power of Al wheels is from greater friction, rather than lower weight, right? The difference in weight between steel wheels and Al wheels must be outweighed by a bigger-than-average breakfast in this space of commuting on cheapness.
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Jul 27, 2020 00:56
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Yesterday I washed and messed around with my rescued-from-the-dump bike. The local Aldi was selling a bunch of bike-relevant stuff this weekend, and we picked up a repair stand for $40 as well as helmets and a few other odds-and-ends for not much money. I'm really happy to see the discussion here about Park Tools videos, I stumbled across them a couple of weeks ago and I quite like them. I mostly followed the "How to Wash a Bike" video, but without the solvent to get into the deraileurs and without the chain-washing tool; I just scrubbed all over with a brush, refreshed with hot soapy water from a sponge - it's little tips like that that I really appreciate.  My new to me bike by Martin Brummell, on FlickrIt was filthy, with layers of grime and dead grass embedded in places like the front cogs, and especially under the saddle. I managed to get the brakes sorted, again after watching the appropriate Park Tools video, but the drivetrain is going to take some work. It's a frankenbike, with components clearly from different bikes assembled onto one at the Tip Shop. The main employee at the Tip Shop claims he used to race bikes and is trying to turn the shop into a place where people can cheaply get what they need to get riding. I like him, and his quest. There are five cogs at the rear wheel, but the gear selector on the handlebar goes to 7. I can only get it to shift between the smallest three cogs, it won't go any larger (i.e. smaller numbers on the handlebar selector). The front deraileur was working kind-of-OK when I finished cleaning everything (and I lubed the chain), but I was messing around with it, trying to make it better, and now it won't shift out of the middle position at all. I got the new handlebar grips put on (shove, shove, shove, rest, shove, shove, shove.... it was tiring) and took it for the shortest of test rides, just down the driveway. On my way back up the driveway (a level but bumpy path), the chain jumped off the front cogs when I put maximum force on it, starting from stopped. I put the chain back on and peddalled into the garage, I'll tackle the gears another day. Very satisfying to just wash the bike, I highly recommend it to anyone feeling even slightly down about their ride. My plan is to A) watch more Park Tools videos, B) try out a few ideas from the videos, and then C) take it to the local shop where I bought the new tires a couple of weeks ago; they urged me to take the bike in so they could check out what it needs and make recommendations and I'll take them up on that after I have a chance to fail at fixing things.
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Aug 24, 2020 03:15
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kimbo305 posted:With shifting, the 3 places where issues could arise are in the shifter guts where the cable is pulled/released, the path of the cable (whether the cable is seized or hanging up anywhere), and at the derailleur. Awesome, thanks! The cables are a bit rough all over - the part of the cable beyond the rear brakes is fraying, the cable to the FD is flattened where it was compressed by the screw, and the plastic is coming off of some of the cables in places. I can move the part of the FD that the cable is screwed to by hand, and it pushes the metal chain guide (I'm guessing at names of parts here) through what looks like the full range of motion for the three cogs at the front. The shifter seems OK, it's exactly the same as a bike I had 20 years ago and I remember the difference in feeling of shifting up and down, and even the tendency (before I messed with it) to occassionally jump 2 spots smaller but never jump 2 spots larger. So I guess it's probably the cable jamming somewhere - that's a great suggestion and the first place I'll look. Given the mismatch between the numbers on my rear shifter and the cogs on the rear wheel, should I look into either a new rear cog set (that has a name, right?) or a new shifter? I'd prefer more cogs at the rear wheel because more is better (duh) but if that's a very expensive option (and my shifter might be buggered anyway) I'm open to other considerations. kimbo305 posted:Bikes are for the most part much simpler than cars to work on, with the main disadvantage being smaller parts / tighter spaces sometimes. You should pick it up real quick. Cannon_Fodder posted:Sup similar-position-and-learning-to-gently caress-around-on-bike-stuff buddy! 
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Aug 25, 2020 01:00
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z16bitsega posted:A 7 speed freewheel will be significantly wider than a 5 speed and likely won't fit on the wheel without either a.) switching to a longer axle and re-dishing the wheel, or b.) moving spacers around and re-dishing. My plan is to drop in to one of the local bike shops and buy a bunch of replacement cables and the tool(s) needed to do it properly, and talk to them about my 7-vs-5 frankenbike setup. I'm never averse to buying tools I know I'm gonna use at least
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Aug 26, 2020 03:11
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Yesterday I replaced the shifter cables. Neither was working well at all, but the new cables fixed the problem. My frankenbike has 5 cogs at the back wheel, but 7 places on the shifter on the handlebars, and 3 and 3 for the front deraileur and shifter. The front shifter cannot *quite* get to number 3, with it opened up and the cable in my hand, I could see the ratchet mechanism falling short by about 3 mm, I'm not sure what to do about that. But! with the new cables I was able to get it reasonably well dialed in to shift between the smaller two cogs at the front, and through all five at the rear - on the shifter, #2 corresponds to the largest cog (#1 pushes the chain into the thin metal shield on the wheel, but the chain does not come off the cog), and #7 to the smallest cog, with #6 just a noise maker, being somewhere between the smallest and second-smallest cogs. The shifter can jump 2 positions depending on how hard and how fast I push on it with my finger / thumb, so it's mostly going to be a matter of me getting used to it. I am happy. I had already gotten the brakes set up "good enough", I've got replacement cables for them, too, but maybe that will be a project for another weekend. Today I got the usb-rechargeable lights charging and I installed an el-cheapo basic trip computer / spedometer. And I took for a test ride, the first real ride ever! Just down the street to the end of the block and back, but I ran through all of the gears and nothing bad happened. Success!  DSC_0920 by Martin Brummell, on FlickrI need to buy a lock and hopefully a side mirror for either my helmet or (I would prefer) the end of the handlebars, as I used to have long long ago. And a set of basic toe clips to suit normal shoes, again that's something I used to have and my old habits of pulling up slightly on the pedals are still in place. Also fenders, I don't want a big wet stripe up my back when I ride it in the rain. \/\/\/ will do! thanks! ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Sep 13, 2020 |
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Sep 13, 2020 07:16
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100YrsofAttitude posted:TLDR: My gear shift/chain seems to click, as if it were shifting gears, automatically at regular intervals, even the gears don't actually shift. You can figure it out this weekend. A bike repair stand will be your best friend while doing this or about a zillion other things on your bike. The bad news is they tend to be fairly expensive, but maybe you'll get lucky like me and your local Aldi will decide to sell bike repair stands for $40. Otherwise you'll have to rig something up that holds your rear wheel (at least) off the ground and allows you to pedal by hand. Or have a very patient friend willing to stand there and hold your bike for you. EDIT: n/m found the commuting thread. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Sep 16, 2020 |
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Sep 16, 2020 03:10
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100YrsofAttitude posted:On the ride home I got used to the idiosyncracies of this bad derailleur situation. The fifth gear (of six) is hosed and won't ever stay in place, clanks, or will shift automatically to six. Sixth works-ish, but more often that not is loud and also prone to switching by itself either into itself or back down to five. Four is stable unless I'm down-shifting from fifth which makes it shift into itself. The lower 3 seem to work fine though. So if I were to fiddle around with the derailleur screws like shown in one of the videos in the OP, would I still have to go back and adjust the 3 lower ones or can I assume they'll make it through untouched? I am a complete noob at this, so take everything I say as applicable probably only to me. I don't know about the adjustment screws. But based on my experience, try replacing the shifter cables. My bought-from-the-dump-recycling-shop frankenbike wasn't really shifting at all. I swapped out the cables for new ones, and presto! it works! It's not perfect - I need to fine tune it in a few ways - but "functions" is way better than "does not function". The videos I watched - Park Tools, some British Bicycles-for-Everyone channel - all started with the claim that no matter what, any problem with shifting is probably going to get better or be solved by changing the cables. Again, I know really nothing, but your issue sounds very much like (to me) something that could be caused by a shifter cable that's stretched, corroded, or otherwise damaged and not smoothly pulling / releasing as the shifter is moved. When I changed mine, cutting the outer cables was the only problem, my generic, cheap pliers with wire-cutters close to the hinge weren't really appropriate for the braided metal, I had to work at it and my cuts are pretty messy. But I got it done, and it cost very little money (I got all 4 cable sets for brakes and shifters, plus a surplus of cable ends, for $40 AUD) and really not much time or effort.
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Sep 17, 2020 01:26
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On my ride (almost) to work this morning I noticed my chain was jumping sometimes under heavy load, like when I shift to an easier gear and then push to climb the hill. It jumps once, stays in the same gear, and then I keep going. I had a closer look and there's plenty of black greasy guk on the upper of the two small cogs on the rear derailleur, and if I pedal backwards the chain kinda half-slides-off that cog, which explains the jump when I pedal forwards again. I guess I missed a spot or two when I cleaned my bike, and I'll try to take care of that this weekend. My medium-term plan is to get this bike up to "acceptable" for my commute, then start thinking about either replacing it, replacing major parts of it, or just getting a second bike of some kind (probably something more mountain-bike-like, there's a small network of trails at my university I'd eventually like to explore). Regarding "replacing major parts", the chain and everything it touches is the obvious candidate. How difficult would you expect it to be for somebody like me (very little mechanical experience but a reasonable amount of willingness to get dirty and try things) to replace all of these: - rear cassette - rear derailleur - front cassette - front derailleur - all cables (already done this, wasn't too bad, solved some earlier severe problems) - both shifters - and for a low-end cost. For $600 I can buy a new hybrid bike from my (seemingly pretty good) LBS so that's a hard upper limit on budget for anything I do to this bike. For a reminder, I bought my bike from the Tip Shop, the city-council-run junk shop attached to the municipal waste disposal facility that rescues everything from bedframes to BBQs to bikes from the bulldozers and sells them for prices negotiated by a series of shrugs and other vague gestures. For $120 I got 2 bikes (mine, my wife's) plus a bunch of other stuff. Keeping it CHEAP is the name of the game right now. Also, could somebody please post or link to a good diagram of bike parts with names? I'm having a hell of time figuring out what to call the various parts. Like "front cassette" - that's not its actual name, is it?
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Oct 9, 2020 00:39
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Giant Metal Robot posted:What kind of shifter do you have? On an indexed shifter, if the jockey wheel winds up between gears, putting more load on the chain can cause it to jump between gears. Yeah, indexed - but 5 cogs on the cassette (burrs) and 7 positions on the shifter. I'll fiddle with the barrel adjuster, that's a good point. I followed the Park Tools video for setting up the rear derailleur (Hangy-Jawn) but between my newbie-ness and the unknown age, condition, and history of the various parts I'm quite willing to accept there's plenty of room for fine-tuning. The upside of this situation is that so far, it's been very easy to make big improvements with simple repairs. Replacing the shift cables, for example, led to my current situation of being able to shift gears at all - previously it was just vaguely and unpredictably able to move between the two smallest cogs at the rear. Cannon_Fodder posted:It's your call. If you're willing to treat it like gambling with house money, at least you'll know for servicing your next bike. The biggest cash sink is tools, in my experience. Expect to make mistakes, so some homework online as some things are easier than others to replace or remove (lots of left hand thread stuff for instance). If you want to learn, go for it. If you want it done, I'd suggest going elsewhere. Thanks, it's nice to have a vote that aligns with my thinking. I'll have a look around at parts from various online sellers and if it all goes to hell I'll be able to take it to my LBS and say "Fix it!" A big part of the appeal here is the chance to learn about bikes.
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Oct 9, 2020 04:01
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My junkyard frankenbike keeps dropping the chain off the crank when I apply maximum power. Twice this morning it jumped off when starting-from-stopped on slight inclines - just the camber of the road that I'm crossing at an intersection. Hard push to start, BANG!, walk the bike to a tree and crouch down to get my hands dirty. I'm trying to just start more gently but I've got a big hill on my commute that I'm hoping to one day conquer and I don't feel confident trying to push myself when my bike is failing at the crunch. (not that it's much of a crunch, for I am flabby) I thought I had the front derailleur set up pretty well, but maybe not? Everything on this bike is very second-hand, so things like the angles of the various pieces of the rear derailleur could be not where they should be, or the chain could be the wrong size, or whatever. I noticed the rear derailleur looked funny when in 1 at the front and 3 (the middle) at the back - the hanging arm was almost horizontal, facing back, as if the chain was too long. The upper of the two little cogs on the hanger is sometimes partly out of the chain, it will jump a few cm on a downshift sometimes and I've noticed it sometimes does this then. Anybody have any suggestions for reducing the probability that my chain will jump off the crank? How difficult is it to change the length of a chain?
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Oct 14, 2020 00:44
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Worn chain and/or chainring is likely. It always jumps off to the inside (towards the frame). So far the chain has jumped off three times, twice from #2, once from #1 (the smallest). The shifter is malfunctioning and cannot reach #3, this is a problem in the shifter not the derailleur - when I changed the cables I tried the shifter with the cable just in my hand and the cover off of the shifter. The mechanism can't clear the next ratchet, it gets about 75% of the way there then I hit the end of the range of movement of the lever. I tried bombing it with INOX (like WD40 but better; recommended by LBS staff) but no improvement. Pics:  My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on Flickr My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on Flickr My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on Flickr My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on FlickrAnd the rear, just for S&G  My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on Flickr My bike's derailleurs by Martin Brummell, on FlickrEDIT  I hadn't actually closely inspected my crank before. This might be a "welp, THERE'S yer problem!" kind of thing. Damaged crank by Martin Brummell, on Flickr Damaged crank by Martin Brummell, on Flickr Damaged crank by Martin Brummell, on Flickr
ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Oct 14, 2020 |
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Oct 14, 2020 01:47
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The small ring looks to be in better shape, but I'll have a closer look tonight when I get home. The drop from the small ring might have been as I tried to change either up or down, it's hard to remember. I was wanting to try to ride out to the Tip Shop anyways, now I have a solid reason. I'll poke around the piles of bike parts and see if I can just buy a replacement for close to free. Looking online I found some Shimano chainrings for not horrible prices but they appeared to be 4-bolt and mine are 5-bolt so I'm thinking replacement would be complicated. Here's a thought: given my 2/3 partial functioning shifter, could I replace my 3-cog crankset with a 2-cog set? I'd like a broader spread between the two chainrings that I can use, the bigger one (i.e. the middle of the current set; I think it's 36T) puts an upper limit on my speed of about 25 km/h on level asphalt and while I'm not interested in setting any speed records, not running out of spins so quickly might be nice. Dumb question: are the two chainrings of a 2-cog set generally further apart in size than the first two rings of a 3-cog set?
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Oct 14, 2020 04:00
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CopperHound posted:Those splits are intentional. They are ramps to assist with indexed shifting. Wow, OK. They look like somebody attacked the chainring with an axe, but their position diametrically opposite does suggest, now that you mention it, that they're supposed to be there. spf3million posted:Your drive train doesn't look horrible. Unfortunately it's going to be hard to diagnose remotely. It sounds like the bike has issues, might not really be worth the trouble trying to get it into tip top shape. My medium-term plan (such as it is) is to 1) keep riding this bike, get myself into better shape and learn as much as I can about bikes (hence the stupid questions) and 2) embrace the n+1 ethos and get myself another, different bike and go on many fun bike rides. Frankenbike will teach me much, I've already learned a ton and I'm still having fun. Except for that bastard of a hill, though, especially the bit that looks flat but is actually an incline.  The bike is almost certainly not worth putting too much work into. For one thing, I'm pretty sure the frame is too small for me. I need to measure myself and ask some slightly less stupid questions, but my frankenbike has written on it "46cm Centre to Centre" and I've seen a few posts from people in various threads that are close to my height and are talking about 50cm or 52cm bikes. Test rides are in order. In the meantime, should I go looking for lubricants or something else specific to bike chains and derailleurs? I lubed the chain a month ago (and I've only put about 60km on it since) but my understanding is that this is only for the movement of the chain parts relative to each other, like when the chain curves around the chainring then straightens. Are there chemicals I could be applying to, say, smooth the action of the little cogs on the rear derailleur hanger, or improve the way the chain interacts with the teeth of the chainrings?
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Oct 14, 2020 07:50
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TobinHatesYou posted:That big ring looks heavily sharktoothed (though it’s clearly not the reason for the drops.) Could you explain this? I never use the big ring because the shifter is incapable of getting there, but I'd like to know what you mean by sharktoothed and what I should look for, in future. \/\/\/ very clear explanation, thank you! ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Oct 16, 2020 |
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Oct 15, 2020 02:23
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On Saturday I replaced my brake pads and the brake cables. Bike stuff on a rainy Saturday by Martin Brummell, on FlickrIt was windy, this rose broke off one of our rosesplotion bushes and my wife put it on the repair stand.  Bike stuff on a rainy Saturday by Martin Brummell, on FlickrOld and busted (R), New Hotness (L). And I added a kickstand.  Bike stuff on a rainy Saturday by Martin Brummell, on FlickrI nearly leaned my junkyard frankenbike on a $5000 very nice bike at the shop when I went to pick up the brake pads (employee very politely prevented that and moved my bike to a stand I hadn't noticed) and I'd been thinking of a kickstand for a while. Very much worth the $20, now I don't have to carefully balance my bike between the lawn furniture and the wheelbarrow in the garage.
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Oct 26, 2020 04:18
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This morning I got my front shifter fully working. It had been unable to shift to the largest chainring, number 3. I took the cover off and found the little spring-moved "foot" part of the ratchet mechanism, which some youtube videos had shown can get sticky and fail to move properly. It was already moving, but some more INOX (I bombed it about a month ago) and a few movements up and down the range freed it up and now I can use all my gears. Then I went for a ride and on a long, straight, somewhat steep descent on good asphalt (i.e. ideal conditions) I got up to 40 km/h while still pedaling with resistance, so I think that's my top speed for now. Later on that ride I saw this bike:  Celebrating an avoided Day Zero by Martin Brummell, on Flickrand seriously thought about wading into the creek to pull out a too-small-for-me abandoned/stolen mountainbike lacking handlebars, front fork, and front wheel because the last outstanding maintenance item on my junkyard frankenbike is the badly worn #2 chainring. But instead, I'll ride out to the Tip Shop some weekend and find something less wet.
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Nov 1, 2020 07:38
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Almost related: my left-side crank bolt keeps getting loose. I have to tighten it every day or my left pedal arm gets wobbly. Even loose, it's inside the crank arm, while the other side sticks out a few millimetres. Other than just tightening this thing daily until I get around to replacing one/all of the chainrings, is there something I can do to keep my bike from falling apart?
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Nov 5, 2020 02:18
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SimonSays posted:I'm assuming this is a square-taper crank. You need to replace the left arm, the taper is hosed and can't be repaired. A LBS that does a lot of repairs on old bikes should have replacements on hand. Yes, square-taper. The LBS I prefer assured me they do plenty of old bikes when I first visited them, so I'll check in with them. This might mean I need a new complete bottom bracket, right? We'll see how that fits the budget if so...
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Nov 5, 2020 07:30
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A new crank would solve the last major issue with this bike, that the middle chainring is badly worn. The ramps identified before are not the problem; there are several teeth that are distinctly shorter and rounder than others on that ring. I'll see what the LBS can quote me for parts, and for labour. I'm guessing replacing a crank and both crank-arms is within my capabilities, while (from what I've gathered) a complete BB replacement requires some special tools.
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Nov 5, 2020 07:35
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Dropped my bike off at the LBS for the loose left-side crank arm on Saturday. They were busy, but the employee had a quick look and thought it might just need that arm. I showed him the worn chainring and we talked about a new crank set (which would include both arms) and maybe a new BB, depending on what they find. He just called me and said I need all that plus a new rear gearset (it's not a cassette, he said, it's a screw-on something, but whatever) and a new chain, bike's not safe without that. So costs are getting up a bit higher, but the upshot is I'll get 7 gears at the rear wheel instead of the 5 I've currently got, and a pretty much all new drivetrain. For between $200 and $300, and I asked him to make sure the costs don't spiral out of control. He understood, I think, that my bike is not worth pouring too much money into. I've been commuting by bike for 4 weeks and I've decided I like it too much to let something like this stop me. This might push back my plans to buy myself a mountain bike to play on the trails here, but I'm looking forward to trying again to conquer the hill that defines my commute. I'm back on the bus for the next few days. Oh well.
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Nov 9, 2020 06:00
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Long stupid post deleted. I like my bike. I'm happy to pay for new parts to be put on my old frame, I'm looking forward to what I'm hoping will be essentially a new bike.
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Nov 10, 2020 00:05
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Update on my frankenbike: The shop called this morning and I popped in for a chat. As they were working on it they decided I would also need new derailleurs (front and rear) and at that point costs were starting to get out of hand. I'm not sure how much they did before they stopped - it looked like they got as far as installing the new BB and crankset - and how much I'll need to pay for regardless. We decided to stop work on the bike, and we talked about the new bikes they have for sale on the floor - I'll move that discussion to the megathread. I'm thinking I'll pay for the work they did and take my unrideable frankenbike home to either part it out (not that the parts are worth anything, but there are accessories like lights I've added that I need to pull to use on my next bike) or just let it sit in the garage until I find a good deal on second-hand derailleurs on eBay or whatever. Long-term, I'd be able to slowly get it back to rideable with the luxury of time and no sense of urgency. I still like my bike, but if I want to keep commuting by bike (and I do, the bus is annoying) I'll need to replace my ride. But it has taught me that I actually like turning a wrench and messing about with it on the weekend, and I'm 100% convinced I want to commute by bike, so this junkyard frankenbike has been entirely worthwhile for the month of commuting (21 workdays) I got out of it.
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Nov 12, 2020 02:30
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VelociBacon posted:This kind of thing is why I never feel bad about buying poo poo online. EDIT: Location is Australia, "regional" New South Wales in the city of Armidale. Some things have silly shipping costs because they can come in from the rest of the world to Sydney or Melbourne, but then putting them on a truck to drive up the hill suddenly costs a lot extra. But most things seem to have reasonable shipping, and I have Amazon Prime for things available through that. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Nov 12, 2020 |
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Nov 12, 2020 04:45
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Apologies for the apparent double post. I bought a new bike and brought my old bike home from the shop. My plan is to swap accessories over to my new bike (lights, computer, pedals with toe-clips, kick-stand) and then lurk various used-parts places for what I need to get the bike back to rideable:
One possibility is to buy a cheap second hand beater bike with compatible parts and strip it - and yes, I'd rather make my old bike good with parts from an equal-quality donor than go the other direction. I like my bike! There's a Malvern Star rigid-frame MTB chained to a post on campus with flat tires and the same Shimano combined shifter/brake assemblies that had a sign: "$50 or next offer" before a storm blew the sign away. That might be a suitable donor for this fun little project, if the seller replaces the sign so I can get the phone number. \/\/\/\/ Good point. I'll go over it this weekend and get as many specific details up as I can work out. Off the top of my head, it's a Shogun Metro, size 46 cm. The combined brake lever and shifter units are Shimano ST-EF20. The existing, worn out crankset is Shimano as well, but I don't know the details right now. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Nov 13, 2020 |
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Nov 13, 2020 02:17
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VelociBacon posted:We need info on your current bike so we can find parts. OK, I had a good look at my old bike as I was swapping accessories over to the new bike yesterday. ExecuDork posted:
 Old bike parts to replace by Martin Brummell, on FlickrThe engraved markings on the inside of the crank arm say "170 L FCTY30 Shimano" which I take to mean it's 170mm long. Note the severe wear around the square hole on the left crank arm. Whoever suggested that when I started complaining about that arm getting loose was spot-on.  Old bike parts to replace by Martin Brummell, on FlickrI haven't found any markings on the FD other than "Shimano". Do bottom brackets vary in size? I could measure the diameter and width of that space, if needed.  Old bike parts to replace by Martin Brummell, on Flickr Less blurry by Martin Brummell, on FlickrThose markings are: "Intergrated 6-7 SIS MAX 28T TOTAL 35T" and another look at the freewheel set with dork disk.  Old bike parts to replace by Martin Brummell, on FlickrThe chain is 146 cm long and has 114 links. Am I right in thinking the best solution might be to buy a complete drivetrain: cranks, chainring, BB, both derailleurs, and chain all as one package?
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Nov 15, 2020 04:08
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kimbo305 posted:Your bike almost certainly has a BSA/English 68mm bottom bracket shell. If it's 68mm side to side, it's BSA. I can believe my measurement of the chain, stretched out on the paving stones behind the house, was off by 1.2cm. The shop told me I need a new chain and I"m willing to trust them on this. I like the prospect of having a collection of parts that all started getting used on my bike at the same time and a new chain seems like a good thing. CopperHound posted:That depends how much fiddling you want to do. I would personally try reusing the derailleurs because I can't bring myself to spend new part money on anything less than 8 speed. Hell, I even kept my 6 speed derailleurs when I upgraded to 8 speed. squirrelnow posted:As you probably know, the max marking is the biggest cog the derailleur can handle. The total is almost certainly the derailleur's capacity, which is the unintuitive (max chainring-min chainring) + (max cog-min cog) measurement. To use CopperHound's examples (48-28) + (28-14) = 34T, or within capacity. If you go over, any chain long enough to accommodate the large-large gear combination will have slack in the small-small gear combination, because the derailleur cage just can't take up that much chain. Since you're thinking of going to a 7-speed, it's an important one to look at with any new gearset you pick up! I haven't spent any time actually looking for parts on-line, yet, I just spent a chunk of savings on my new bike and I'm happy to take my time with the old bike. But I'll have a poke around.
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Nov 16, 2020 02:11
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kimbo305 posted:once you pull enough lever to make contact. I bought a new bike and it has mechanical disk brakes - and I'm happy with them. The other model I test-rode at the LBS had a similar frame (same manufacturer, same series - the Norco Storm 3 vs. the Storm 5 I bought) and hydraulic disks. In my little ride around the block in traffic I noticed very little difference between them - but of course, it wasn't a big, thorough test of various braking situations. One thing I did notice on both bikes is that I need to pull the levers pretty far before any real braking action happens. I'm planning to adjust my brakes this weekend - I already turned the barrel adjusters about as far as they'll go - by just pulling the cable a little further, because I prefer a brake lever that starts to bite well before I crush my ring & pinky fingers. Can hydraulic brakes be similarly adjusted?
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Nov 24, 2020 00:43
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I used the barrel adjusters at the levers, not at the calipers (I don't even know if there are adjusters at the caliper). The bike is brand new, I've put just over 100km on it in a week, the pads aren't worn and the brakes work smoothly. It's just the amount of no-effect movement of the levers that I'm trying to change. I get a free overall-bike-maintenance at the 6-week point (so, around about christmas - it doesn't have to be on the exact day of 6 weeks, I'll see what the shop's open hours are that week) but this is a small issue I'm willing to play around with myself. kimbo305 posted:There’s more variation in adjustment between models. Many are self adjusting, where extra fluid comes from a reservoir, similar to car brakes.
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Nov 24, 2020 06:48
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I tightened up my brakes this weekend. Now the free stroke is much smaller and I am much happier. It took about 3 minutes to adjust both front and rear, just a little more cable sticking out of the assembly at the caliper and the pads a couple of millimetres closer to the disks when at rest position.
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Dec 7, 2020 05:15
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I used the inner tubes that were inside the falling-apart tires on my junkyard frankenbike after I bought cheap, new tires. I also bought new inner tubes just in case, but for the month I rode that bike before the BB fell apart the unknown-age inner tubes were fine.
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Jan 25, 2021 01:32
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Nothing to do with seatposts, angles, or any of that. Just a way to carry more when I stop at the grocery store on my way home from work. New rack.  New rack on my bike by Martin Brummell, on FlickrAnd I tightened up the brake cables a bit, hoping to reduce the freeplay in the levers.
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Feb 20, 2021 06:23
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kimbo305 posted:Did it work? 1/2 worked. The front brake lever is still a little loose for my liking. I need to adjust the rear derailleur cable, too, so I have a reason to spend a bit more time with my bike tomorrow. The rack works well. I've never had one before and I'm discovering some new considerations. Such as the way the bike really wants to fall over when there's 12 bottles of beer in a bag on the rack.
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Feb 20, 2021 09:51
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kimbo305 posted:If you were doing only the barrel adjuster, then you should loosen that all the way and pull more cable though the brake arm clamp before going back to the barrel. I got lazy on Sunday and didn't do poo poo. The adjustments I did on Saturday were exactly that - loosen holding screw at brake calipers, pull cable through the brake arm clamp (i.e. move arm tighter while pulling on wire; I need a third hand), tighten screw, lament the tendency of the arm to move as I try to rotate the screw. Yesterday (Monday) I tried to tighten up the front brakes with the barrel adjuster. It was already maxed out at the caliper, but I put a few rotations on it at the lever. Made a small difference. I need to stop being so lazy and actually work on it, and do what you suggest. Also, the chain is jumping under load. This is particularly noticeable in the smallest front chainring, but that could be confounded by the fact that I mostly push hard only when I'm starting from stop or climbing a hill, which is when I'm on that smallest front ring. It also jumps when I'm on the other front chainrings, just less often. The problem is rapidly getting worse, I need to solve this before my bike becomes unrideable halfway to work. The bike was doing this in January, and when I took it to the LBS where I bought it for my free first maintenance they solved that problem. I want to solve this myself, rather than give them money. What screw do I turn to make my chain jump under load less often? What keywords should I throw at Youtube to find a good video?
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Feb 23, 2021 00:17
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bicievino posted:There are two most common causes of chain jumping under load: Thanks for the manual, I'll have a look. I strongly suspect the issue is at the rear. Maybe if I get extra-ambitious I'll clamp my GoPro to the rear frame and see if I can capture a chain jump event. Does the goon hivemind have a prefered chain lube? Conditions are dry most of the time but I do ride in the rain sometimes.
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Feb 23, 2021 01:18
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TobinHatesYou posted:Take close-up photos of your chainrings and cassette. This morning I put it up on the stand, then turned it around so the chain side was away from the stand, then stared at it for a bit. I pulled the dried grass and crap out of the cassette, which was solidly wedged in right along 3-4-5, plus some seeds and gunk out of the hanger. And I lubed the chain with the el-cheapo "dry conditions only" lube I bought at Aldi months ago, and took it through all of the gears and generally hosed with it. Total success! My commute was chain-jump free and all of my shifts, starts, and hill-climbs were smooth. Also, my chain was much, much less noisy - it had been pretty squeaky before. Also, I realized while it was on the stand that my messing with the brakes now means there's a slight drag on the rear wheel, the caliper on one side is lightly rubbing the brake disk. And the brake disk is very slightly off-true, perhaps it's a bit warped or misaligned (or the wheel is a tiny bit misaligned in the frame, dunno). It's not enough drag to notice when I'm riding, it just slows the wheel down on the stand after I stop pedalling with my hand. A problem for the weekend. I'll add Rock n Roll Gold to my shopping list, thanks!
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Feb 24, 2021 01:30
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I bought a junkyard frankenbike 6 months ago and fixed it up enough to decide I prefer commuting by bike over the bus before the BB self-destructed (now the frame is hanging in my garage, some day I'll get back to it). The Park Tools videos on Youtube are the best. Step 1: clean your bike, thoroughly. I didn't have a chain washer like in the PT video, but a rag and a dollar-store brush I could throw away when it turned black and gucky along with a generous squirt of dish soap into a bucket of hot water was all I needed to utterly transform that bike. The other major issues - shifting and braking - were solved by replacing all four cables (inner and outer) and blasting the internals of the shifters with INOX (WD-40's better Australian competitor). Sounds like you have hydraulic brakes, which I know nothing about, but if the shifting is troublesome, again I suggest the Park Tools videos, and if that doesn't sort it, replace the cables.
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Mar 15, 2021 00:43
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eSporks posted:Quick Google shows INOX is a PTFE lubricant, so it should be OK for general bike use, but there are better lubricants. Voodoofly posted:What about using it to do a quick degrease or get rid of water on the chain after you clean, but before you reapply lube?
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Mar 15, 2021 06:42
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My brakes suck. Norco Storm 5, mechanical disk brakes, bought last November and with just over 1000 km of commuting on it so far. This week has been extremely wet here; we're on top of the hill so the water runs away from us, but massive rain Sunday-Monday-Tuesday soaked us as well as the usual downstream places that have been pretty much devastated. I can't really complain, my commute got messed up not my whole life. And the rainbow on Wednesday was lovely. I rode through plenty of dirty water this week, both in the form of rain and the flooded MUP of my commute. I think grit and water got between the pads and the rotor, and my braking ability is now terrible. It's also really variable, if I "warm up" the brakes early in my ride by pedalling and gently working the brake, they will be (somewhat) less awful 5 minutes later, but I'm never able to get them as good as they have been in the past. Obviously, I need to clean my bike - it's filthy from all the splashing. That's in the plan for this weekend. The problem is, I've never really worked with disk brakes before. I know I need to adjust them anyways, they slightly rub on one side of the rotor while there's a gap of a couple of millimetres on the other side, both front and rear. I've got the owner's manual and it provides basic instruction - but are there any tips or warnings? Something I need to do to avoid headaches like lost screws or something?
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Mar 26, 2021 00:43
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ExecuDork posted:My brakes suck. FIXED! I washed my bike and then got to work on the brakes. The inner pads, both front and rear, are held in threaded plugs, and both had backed out. This meant when I squeezed the lever and the outer pad was pushed towards the rotor, there was nothing on the other side of the rotor to push back and the rotor was only lightly pushed, not squeezed. Thus my terrible braking. Setting the inner pads correctly involved simply rotating the threaded plug then tightening the set-screw that's supposed to stop this from happening. This process is complicated by the presence of the wheel, and my crappy tools.  Wash bike and adjust brakes by Martin Brummell, on FlickrFilthy bike.  Wash bike and adjust brakes by Martin Brummell, on FlickrClean (-ish) bike.  Wash bike and adjust brakes by Martin Brummell, on FlickrFront inside pad in its plug.  Wash bike and adjust brakes by Martin Brummell, on FlickrGood-enough rear brakes. Success! My brakes now work very well. I also cleaned, dried, and lubed the chain and all of the gears. Happiness is a smooth, silent drivetrain and effective brakes.
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Mar 29, 2021 00:24
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 20:12 |
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Thank you. I do still have the pretty old blue bike, it's my Frankenbike from the tip shop and is currently lacking a bottom bracket, along with the rest of the drivetrain. I hope to turn it into my backup commuter, eventually. For now it's just gathering dust and spiders in the garage but it's safe and I haven't forgotten about it. First I have to stop being so lazy. The ongoing discussion about 3-chain-ring cranksets and so forth is very interesting. While I'm here, what's involved in replacing a BB? The old one is gone, the shop stopped work on that bike when they realised the cost of parts & labour was going to greatly exceed the value of the bike and approach the cost of a new bike. I could buy a BB from them and have them install it, but save the rest of it (chain, both deraileurs, cassette - probably new wheels, too - chain rings, crank, pedals) for myself and the used / discount market. The cables are internal, other than squeezing cables (and I guess scratching the paint), what's wrong with clamping by the top tube? \/\/\/ Cool, thanks! Seatpost from now on. ExecuDork fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Mar 29, 2021 |
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Mar 29, 2021 00:51
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