Search found 1786 matches

by alexnharvey
23 Mar 2024, 9:31am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: SKS Chainbow?
Replies: 26
Views: 1654

Re: SKS Chainbow?

rjb wrote: 20 Mar 2024, 11:54am I'm a convert to waxing chains. I use a slow cooker to boil them up in a home brew mix of candle wax, moly paste and PTFE grease.
I just wipe the old chain and place in the cooker. I do this every 500 miles on the tandem using a pair of chains in rotation. :wink:
Keep an eye out for an old deep fat fryer. So much easier and quicker than a slow cooker i find. The basket is great for letting the excess wax drain off the chain
by alexnharvey
19 Mar 2024, 8:22am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Can you judge hub quality by how long the wheel spins freely?
Replies: 15
Views: 9049

Re: Can you judge hub quality by how long the wheel spins freely?

As reohn2 says, a very helpful test is to spin the wheel with the axle held in the fingertips, or with fingertips on the axle while it is in the frame or forks. Any issues with the bearings are easily detected.

I have found that on a smooth road I have sometimes felt front wheel bearing issues through the handlebars.
by alexnharvey
13 Mar 2024, 7:48am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Noisy freehub - quieten with grease?
Replies: 35
Views: 1552

Re: Noisy freehub - quieten with grease?

NLGI grades 0, 00 and 000, aka semi fluid greases, are increasingly less likely to make the pawls stick as they are less and less viscous. Indeed, a semi fluid grease is specified to lubricate shimano freehubs. You can try to approximate the reduction in viscosity with a grease-oil mixture. A heavier weight oil, such as gear oil might also dampen the noise somewhat.

I have some semi fluid grease you could experiment with if you like. For the cost of postage i could send a sachet.
by alexnharvey
18 Feb 2024, 8:50am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: 3/32 Grade 10 Chrome Steel ball bearing, can anybody direct me to a suitable seller?
Replies: 17
Views: 1384

Re: 3/32 Grade 10 Chrome Steel ball bearing, can anybody direct me to a suitable seller?

cycle tramp wrote: 17 Feb 2024, 7:36am
alexnharvey wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 8:35pm
cycle tramp wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 4:01pm ..er... I'm struggling to come up with any possible advantage that chromed ball bearings will have over carbon steel, given the fact that they're going to be used in pedals...
I suspect you have confused chromed steel and chrome steel. One is plated with chrome while the other has it as an alloying element improving the properties. Bearing steel and chrome steel are effectively synonymous, e.g. 52100.
Yes, you're right I was... however having been told of the existence of ball bearings with chrome in them... why? You surely want the ball bearings to be the quickest part to wear, as this means that the races in the cones and pedal bodies wear less... ball bearings are relatively easy to replace.. does anyone sell pedal cones as spares?
I suppose there must be a balance to be struck. You do not want them to be so hard and unyielding that they damage the races (like ceramic balls might?) but yet also not so soft that they are worn quickly which would in turn damage the races. Right Brucey?

I am quite sure bright minds and much metallurgical experimentation have been applied to this question and 52100 and other steels were the result.
by alexnharvey
16 Feb 2024, 8:35pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: 3/32 Grade 10 Chrome Steel ball bearing, can anybody direct me to a suitable seller?
Replies: 17
Views: 1384

Re: 3/32 Grade 10 Chrome Steel ball bearing, can anybody direct me to a suitable seller?

cycle tramp wrote: 16 Feb 2024, 4:01pm ..er... I'm struggling to come up with any possible advantage that chromed ball bearings will have over carbon steel, given the fact that they're going to be used in pedals...
I suspect you have confused chromed steel and chrome steel. One is plated with chrome while the other has it as an alloying element improving the properties. Bearing steel and chrome steel are effectively synonymous, e.g. 52100.
by alexnharvey
15 Feb 2024, 8:38pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Steel frame protection
Replies: 20
Views: 1436

Re: Steel frame protection

I am using a lanolin based product. I believe it is just lanolin in a carrier solvent so one could make their own quite easily. No aerosol involved. Squirt it in and slosh it around.
by alexnharvey
10 Jan 2024, 12:53pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Heated gloves
Replies: 14
Views: 869

Re: Heated gloves

slowster wrote: 10 Jan 2024, 12:40pm OP, if you are using flat handlebars, I suggest you buy these pogies which a forum member is selling for £19 - viewtopic.php?t=159433. They are not as heavily insulated as the more expensive pogies intended for use in places like Alaska, but they stop the constant flow of cold air over your gloves, which is what continually sucks heat from you hands.
I would second this. I use pogies all winter for my commute. Above 2 degrees no other glove is required. Below that i find a slim glove liner suffices.
by alexnharvey
1 Jan 2024, 8:54am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Stem sheared off, remains seized in fork
Replies: 35
Views: 2462

Re: Stem sheared off, remains seized in fork

Always add the soda to water, never the other way round.
by alexnharvey
17 Dec 2023, 2:28pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Glueing the plastic on brake lever shell
Replies: 6
Views: 2286

Re: Glueing the plastic on brake lever shell

Epoxy is not very good on plastic, especially if you are relying on a mechanical bond (scratched up surface). Plastics like nylon bins so poorly to it that they are used as peel layers during composite construction (vacuum bagging and infusion) or the vacuum bags themselves (polyethylene i think).

I believe mma structural adhesives may be better for many plastics.

Some plastics benefit/require activators which enhance bonding.
by alexnharvey
10 Dec 2023, 1:50pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: M756A vs M525A
Replies: 10
Views: 1079

Re: M756A vs M525A

You and the Shimano pdf are probably right, that they use 3/16 balls but an M10 axle. I think you would notice if you tried to use the wrong size balls.

I must've misremembered or possibly assumed that they're 1/4 because the axle is M10. Anyway, the bearings seem to hold up ok on the rear.
by alexnharvey
10 Dec 2023, 1:45pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: What rim tape please
Replies: 11
Views: 1320

Re: What rim tape please

mattsccm wrote: 10 Dec 2023, 8:40am Just buy a 25 metre roll of the yellow Tesa 4289 tape from ebay. Perfect . Pick your width.
Better than any big name for tubeless and perfect for tubes.
I use this too.
by alexnharvey
6 Dec 2023, 8:05pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Tyre choice for intermittent black ice?
Replies: 47
Views: 8757

Re: Tyre choice for intermittent black ice?

I continue to switch to continental top contact winter tyres each winter. Had them on the commuting bike for about a month now. I find them great. I have yet to encounter sheet ice on them, but they seem to cope with everything else very well.
by alexnharvey
5 Dec 2023, 4:16pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Abandoned bike locks
Replies: 21
Views: 2390

Re: Abandoned bike locks

I recently found a lock that i had lost still attached to a rack at a work building i rarely visit by bike because of it being so close to my main workplace that i tended to walk there instead. I guess i must've had a late meeting there and gone home by bike directly afterwards, intending to pick the lock up again on my way back the following day. Instead it languished there for the next 7 years until I happened to leave that building by the back door post the bike racks and noticed it. I still had the key and now the lock is back in service, although the exterior is rusty.

Alex, dull men's club, Cambridge chapter.
by alexnharvey
19 Nov 2023, 9:21am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: How thin is this axle?
Replies: 5
Views: 554

Re: How thin is this axle?

Lots of these nasty thin little pieces of junk have bushings rather than bearings. Because it's vital for clearance over rocks and so on!
by alexnharvey
25 Oct 2023, 8:29am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Mudflaps. What do you use?
Replies: 72
Views: 8652

Re: Mudflaps. What do you use?

DurableAce wrote: 24 Oct 2023, 10:02pm I opt for the damp proof course (DPC) material. Pop riveted to the end of an SKS rubber mudflap to extend the length down to a few cm off the road. I cut a c. 4cm length of steel ruler and either gaffer tape it or rivet it to the end of the DPC flap to add enough weight to stop it flapping around or getting wrapped up under itself.
That reminds me I must do something to reinforce or weight my DPC flap. It's large and in very strong winds it can be blown against the tyre.