Category: Bike Mechanics

Component cleaning..

Bought a few things for the new bike today. Firstly, Halfords for a new socket set. Some of the cross-head screws holding on the panniers are *tight*, and I couldn’t get enough torque with a screwdriver. 

Secondly, Tesco for some Cider Vinegar. I bought three bottles initially.

After getting home, I smashed out a quick ride on the Kitsune, out along the coast to the east for ten miles, and ten miles back (20.5 according to Strava). Average was 16mph, with 28 Strava trophies, including 7 PBs.

I then started stripping the Raleigh.. I didn’t have too much time, so to start with, I’ve gone with dismantling the front v-brakes, one or two other bolts, the chain and the rear derailleur. 

At the time of writing, the parts have been in the vinegar for around two hours, and I’ll be leaving them overnight.

Here are the parts in their container, which is a four pint milk bottle with the top cut off – this provided a large enough space to fit the derailleur, whilst not needing too much vinegar to fill it.

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.