Month: February 2017

New bike!

I’ve been keeping an eye out in all of the usual suspect sites.. eBay, Gumtree, etc, for cheap bikes to buy purely to work on to practise bike mechanics.

There are a few decent bulk sellers out there, and obviously plenty of bikes for sale in general, but many of these need a car or even van.. and I have neither, choosing to ride my motorbike as my primary mode of transport.

So I arranged to borrow my other half’s car today and go to buy a locally available bike, which was up for £20. It was advertised with a seized seat post, which sounded a challenge!

The bike also had the bonus of looking like it would be a good fit for my girlfriend, in case she wanted to try out bike riding.

Having got the bike, which is a Raleigh Wildcat, home, I’m actually really pleased with it – there are parts with surface rust to clean up, new grease needed, panniers to remove, and a new chain required, of a shorter length.. the current one rubs the guide pulley of the rear mech in the small / small combo.

I have never experienced such amazing v-brakes – the brake arms are so solid, and there’s barely any flex in the levers.. most impressed.

First step was to diagnose the seatpost, and I discovered that although there is possibly some galvanic corrosion bonding the post and tube, the primary issue is that the heads of the Allen bolt heads are stripped. So I’ve now ordered a set of mole grips which will hopefully assist with extraction.

While I wait for those to arrive, I’ll be looking for some apple cider vinegar to use for removing the rust from the bolts and other corroded components, and measuring up the afore-mentioned bolt for ordering a new one. Stay tuned!

Hit the Downs MTB

Another of the events I’m strongly considering this year (in addition to the SDW in a Day) – the ‘Hit the Downs MTB’ event, which is happening on the 7th May this year, and is organised by the Chestnut Tree House, a great cause to support. There is a choice of 20 and 40 mile routes (making it a great warm up for the SDW in a Day), although I haven’t been able to find the route map. Check it out: http://www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk/events/hit-downs-mtb/

Headset installation complete 

I realised pretty soon after starting this job, that the proper tools are needed to remove the headset cups.. same for the crown race.

So I resigned myself to not being able to remove the cups, But thought I’d have a look at whether the individual parts from the new and old headsets would play well together.

For the crown race, I kept the old one in place after verifying the new bearings would fit into the lower cup, and used a rubber seal from the new one.

For the top cup, again I found that the bearing race fitted perfectly, so used that along with the top cap, plastic wedge etc from the old headset. I packed both cups with lithium grease after cleaning the cups out.

It all fitted together very well, and I adjusted the play out of it to prevent notchiness in the steering.

The proof is in the pudding, and I commuted on it for the first time today. I’d also cut through the lock keeping the old saddle in place, so I could fit my old Selle Royale Respiro that I had on the Dawg Primo.

The bike is very close to being nailed now.. just the seat height and angle to tweak.

I even managed 14 Strava trophies, including four PBs over the 7.4 mile distance, result!

Headset installation

The last part (hopefully) needed for the Fire Mountain is a new headset. The other one has various disintegrated seals, very old grease, and is generally looking very sorry for itself.

Bought a new one from Halfords – a £15.99 special – but I have no tools to fit it. I’d seen a YouTube video by RJ The Bike Guy where he used a ghetto headset press, and realised the things are for sale, ready made, on EBay. These comprise a threaded rod with large washers, with nuts at each end that are turned with a spanner, to push each part of the headset (individually) onto the frame.

So I bought one of those at £7, due for delivery tomorrow.

In terms of the crown race, I have some plastic pipe, also used by RJ, to push the race on to the fork, and will remove the old one using a screwdriver.