I only dismantled the front brakes for cleaning (along with various other bits), leaving the rears in situ.

So as I’d used all of the Cider Vinegar on the parts cleaned thus far, I tried my luck in the town centre whilst at work to see if I could find any more, to do the back brakes.

Couldn’t find any cider vinegar, but did find some white wine vinegar.. so I’ll be trying that tomorrow.

Rescued the bits from the vinegar before work this morning, by emptying the container.

Didn’t get a chance to then clean / dry then until after work.

Big improvement all round.. the small bolts and washers showed the best improvement, but the brake arms did well too.

Started the process of fitting it all back together, and only realised there was a spring in the brake lever when it fell out. Took a while, and the dismantling of the other brake lever, to work out its orientation, but got there in the end. I booked a day’s holiday tomorrow, for a big ride and some more tinkering!

After:

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.