Search found 1444 matches

by Trigger
5 Jul 2020, 11:45am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Torque wrench 6-30nm
Replies: 96
Views: 4621

Re: Torque wrench 6-30nm

tim-b wrote:Hi
Does it have qualites that make it stand out for us cyclists?

I'd suggest a lower range for a bicycle-specific torque wrench, mine is 1Nm-20Nm which covers the vast majority of bike fasteners.
5Nm marked on a handlebar stem (for example) is a maximum and mine run safely at 4Nm.
There isn't much that springs to mind in the 15Nm-30Nm range, pedals, Hollotech BBs and cassette lockrings are examples of fasteners often above this range.
I bought a set of allen key sockets for not much, at bicycle torques you won't break many
Regards
tim-b


1-20 sounds decent, do you have a link to it?

Generally on steel bikes I just do it by feel but I think on carbon bikes it can be quite crucial so as to ensure you don't crack it.
by Trigger
5 Jul 2020, 10:49am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: 47c vs 35c tyres - differences in speed?
Replies: 27
Views: 1347

Re: 47c vs 35c tyres - differences in speed?

My 32c (actually measure 30mm) Gravelkings are not only far more comfortable than my previous 28c GP5000s but faster as well, I put it down to the lower pressure allowing more glide over rough surfaces than the constant energy sapping bouncing around on the 28s with more air in them.
by Trigger
4 Jul 2020, 12:15pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: What has the bike stuff fairy brought you today?
Replies: 124
Views: 8904

Re: What has the bike stuff fairy brought you today?

Some caustic soda to dissolve the alloy BB housing out of a steel frame.
by Trigger
1 Jul 2020, 8:30pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Carbon frames for Mamils with high handlebars.
Replies: 67
Views: 4068

Re: Carbon frames for Mamils with high handlebars.

To be honest I think it looks worse on some bikes more than others, a lot can pull it off when done properly, you can tell the obvious "I bought the wrong bike" types instantly though.

I guess there could be another explanation, and that is perhaps they've been owned by older guys who rode primarily in the drops on old horizontal steel framed bikes and the bar height is actually set up for saddle to drops rather than the more common modern standard of saddle to hoods.
by Trigger
30 Jun 2020, 6:48pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

Galvonic corrosion has well and truly got a hold here, the two pieces are now one, which is pretty much what I suspected after the last line of attack failed.

Unfortunately I deal with it almost on a daily basis at work and it's no less of a pain in the backside there, in fact more so there due to the location.

So I think the only course of action left is the stuck seatpost dissolving trick.
by Trigger
30 Jun 2020, 3:04pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Spa Nidd Saddle - How to (rapidly) break in.
Replies: 27
Views: 3205

Re: Spa Nidd Saddle - How to (rapidly) break in.

pwa wrote:
Trigger wrote:I'd have just sold it and bought something that fit me.

But when you buy that sort of saddle you do so knowing that it will not be at its best straight out of the box and it should be good somewhere down the line. Plastic and foam is the way to go if you want it to be as good as it will get immediately.

I currently have a leather saddle that has improved over a few thousand miles, having started out too hard, then moving on to tolerable, and now quite comfy most of the time, and I still manipulate it from time to time. The dimples are established so now the emphasis is on flattening the forward ridge to stop it digging in on long rides, which works well. It is all a bit of a faff but having spent hundreds on all sorts of wonderful saddles with big claims made for them over the years, I have only ever got a tolerable result from leather on long rides. Other bottoms don't agree, but that's how it is with mine.


What, melting the plastic core with a heatgun is reasonable? The leather Brooks saddles I've had never felt any different from start to finish, maybe it can take a little while for your backside to get used to a new shaped saddle but dunking it in a bucket of water and then blasting it with a heatgun seems a bit OTT.

For me there are two types of saddle and I can tell them from the first few seconds of getting on. Either it feels in the ball park and once you're used to it then it will be ok, or it feels completely wrong straight away in which case don't even bother, just get another different type.
by Trigger
30 Jun 2020, 9:43am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Spa Nidd Saddle - How to (rapidly) break in.
Replies: 27
Views: 3205

Re: Spa Nidd Saddle - How to (rapidly) break in.

I'd have just sold it and bought something that fit me.
by Trigger
29 Jun 2020, 4:32pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

Well nobody will be using this one :lol:
by Trigger
29 Jun 2020, 2:03pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

rjb wrote:Hope you have better luck than one i had a go at. This frame eventually went for scrap. Story here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=94465&hilit=dawes+bottom+tool


Well I'm hoping that because it has been stored well and nothing else on it was seized that I am in with a chance.

Were these types of Mavic BBs fitted just as a regular BB even if the frame threads weren't knacked?
by Trigger
29 Jun 2020, 1:34pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

Brucey wrote:
Trigger wrote:I'm still trying to fix up this Gazelle that I bought locally, it was only supposed to be a quick job and it has turned into a right pain in the 'arris :roll:

I eventually managed to get the crank off with the stripped thread but both bottom bracket lock rings are seized solid, cheater bars, hammer and cold chisel haven't shifted either of them yet. It's only going in the bin anyway so is destruction my best option? if so what's the best way of doing it without potentially damaging the frame?


IIRC provided you can unscrew the adjuster (LHS), the axle and bearings can be drifted out of the assembly in this model Mavic BB. At this stage you can either rebuild using new bearing parts (IIRC if the axle is good you can use parts from cartridge bearings) or you can cut the aluminium housing out of the frame.

Once the lockrings are off the main housing should just slide out of the frame. Too late now of course but IIRC the spindle is cross-drilled and the whole unit can be purged with grease using a grease gun. I would probably have greased it and used it for a while before trying to do anything with it; 'feeling gritty' is perfectly normal for cartridge bearings with the slightest corrosion in them, which might be terminal, but then again might not be, as revealed by further use.

Probably the threads in the frame are banjaxed anyway (which is why the Mavic BB was fitted in the first place; BTW it might be glued in place) so you will have another repair to do...

cheers


Well it's an ISO taper and I have Shimano stuff to go on it so wouldn't have been wise to reuse it I think. The lock rings are well dead, straight in the bin.

From what I can see it may just be that they're corroded in as there is a lot of white al oxide coming off when I wire brush the exposed threads, looks like its never been out to me. Can't shift either cup, tried a punch in one of the holes but it is just boring its way through the ally.

I wondered about making some flats on the cups and trying a big spanner?
by Trigger
29 Jun 2020, 1:10pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

Bigger hammer got the lock rings off in the end, but the cups are solid. I can get a good grip with a pair of footprints but I don't have a cheater bar big enough to go over the handle so this is the next problem.
by Trigger
28 Jun 2020, 11:38pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Stretching
Replies: 17
Views: 1362

Re: Stretching

In some respects I'm quite flexible and supple due to my job and having to work in tiny/awkward/confined spaces, but my hamstrings aren't very stretchy. It can take a while to touch my toes and even then it's only on a bounce, I never get any twinges or pain but I just thought being looser in that department would be better for cycling.
by Trigger
27 Jun 2020, 8:14pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

Pneumant wrote:Could also be an earlier Mavic 600 (I have one of these somewhere) which does have cups!
Take some pics please........


Definitely not one of them. Like I say, it's identical to the one in the link.

I'll put some plus gas on it and then try again tomorrow.
by Trigger
27 Jun 2020, 8:05pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: BB lock rings
Replies: 29
Views: 1332

Re: BB lock rings

They're well mangled now so it's scrap anyway. It felt gritty and not very free which is why it was coming out. I don't have a heat gun only a blow torch and I'd rather not use that. I'll have to find a bigger hammer.

I see from the spec it has ISO square taper yet it had a Shimano crank on it...
by Trigger
27 Jun 2020, 8:02pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Carbon frames for Mamils with high handlebars.
Replies: 67
Views: 4068

Re: Carbon frames for Mamils with high handlebars.

I think the Cannondale Synapse is designed for a bit more of an upright position, or maybe it's just the ones I've seen.