I'm a champion bike mechanic...

[bychosis]

Commuter bike developed a creak in the BB area while pedalling. Seems to spin OK, pedals seem smooth and free from play. Whipped the cranks off and found the BB had a little movement in it, but spun smoothly.

Found another BB in the parts bin. Popped it in, reinstalled the cranks and there is even more movement in the BB. Now hunting for another replacement.

[DavidS]

Wobbly back wheel of late, so I thought I'd check the bearings. Hmm, bit of slack in them.

Thing is, it would be good to have a bearing remover and he proper tool to put in the new bearing given these are roller bearings press fitted into the wheel. I do hate anything press fit!

Managed to get the old bearings out with a screw-driver.

I made a tool to press the bearing in with threaded rod, washers and nuts. Seems to work ok.

Of course, I managed to forget to put the spacer in the middle before putting the second bearing in, why do you forget that after making sure it is right net to the bearing? So frustrating.

Might look at getting the proper tools!

One thing I couldn't work out is how to get the freewheel off the axle. The freewheel seems fine but it would be nice to be able to pull it apart and replace the bearings when I need to. Possibly it just slides off and is tight but I can't work it out.

Anyway, the wheel is much better now, no wobble and smooth.

DS

[bychosis]

Took another rebuild out for a shake down this arvo. 98 Gary Fisher Joshua. I'd test ridden it round the cul-de-sac and thought it was OK. The headset was loose making nasty noises. The v brakes started making terrible noises like something caught in the pads. The front shifter was basically in it for show. Wouldn't shift to the big ring, would o ly shift to the little ring in biggest cog on the cassette. Then the rear shift got out of whack and wouldn't hold half the gears without overshifting then changing back.

Did take some Allen keys with me on the ride amd adjusted a bit, but its gonna need to go back on the stand and get a decent once over.

[Duck!]

^^ The shifters sound like they just need a good drink of fresh lube to soften the factory grease on the ratchets, which does get very gluey over time.

[bychosis]

Thanks Duck. The shifters are fine, clicking nicely. It's my champion mechanic failure to adjust and then tighten the cables that was the problem. I thought I had the front set up right, but it wasn't anywhere near close. Then the rear must have pulled through a bit during the ride and got all out of whack.

[DavidS]

I find when you replace cable inners and outers you need to connect it all up, then try and change a few gears and the outer cable seats properly on the end cap. Then you start trying to adjust them.

I had real fun with a 3 x 8 speed recently, right pain to get all the gears to work properly, very finicky.

DS

[stevenaaus]

Yeah, I had a big hassle getting my 3x8 going too... Put it down to not having a proper 8 speed crankset. 10 and 11 speed setup seems much easier to me.

[MichaelB]

Got the notification on the way home that the PM pedals needed charging. NP. Get home, get out the wires, attach to pedals and plug into the power lead from the wall.

Did I flick the switch to let the electrons flow .....

[jasonc]

Got the notification on the way home that the PM pedals needed charging. NP. Get home, get out the wires, attach to pedals and plug into the power lead from the wall.

Did I flick the switch to let the electrons flow .....

this happened last night - di2 battery on the roadie was getting low. so got home, moved everything across to the gravel bike for today, then put the gravel bike on charge instead of the roadie. worked it out before i left the garage thankfully

[jules21]

Got the notification on the way home that the PM pedals needed charging. NP. Get home, get out the wires, attach to pedals and plug into the power lead from the wall.

Did I flick the switch to let the electrons flow .....

it won't kill you to not ride for one day

[ningnangnong]

Any pro tips on how to 'de-rust' this bolt and what to use to clean up the rest of the shifter?

Can't even get the allen key in there at the moment.

Bizarrely, the right shifter is barely affected, with no gunk or rust at all. It's only the left one that seems to have spent the last year and a half caked in salty, sweat remnants.

[elantra]

Any pro tips on how to 'de-rust' this bolt and what to use to clean up the rest of the shifter?

Can't even get the allen key in there at the moment.

Bizarrely, the right shifter is barely affected, with no gunk or rust at all. It's only the left one that seems to have spent the last year and a half caked in salty, sweat remnants.

Wow, that’s epic !
But I have no real idea how to overcome that.
Perhaps there has been some oil leaking or something like that to cause that.
But leaking oil is not something that you usually associate with corrosion.
Hopes a more expert opinion will arise.

[WyvernRH]

Any pro tips on how to 'de-rust' this bolt and what to use to clean up the rest of the shifter?

Can't even get the allen key in there at the moment.

Bizarrely, the right shifter is barely affected, with no gunk or rust at all. It's only the left one that seems to have spent the last year and a half caked in salty, sweat remnants.

Gosh, that's impressive! Not being a Hydro brake whiz, I'm assuming that's the lever clamp bolt under all that gunk?

My first suggestion is a few drops of malt vinegar and let it lie for a while to 'soften' the rust and then take a small, fine brass wire brush (Bunnings) to gently try and dislodge what you can to get a better idea of what is happening there. And I do mean a fine brush and gently here Followed by some sort of penetrating oil.

All else fails you can drill it out and buy new spare parts?

Warm water and detergent and a cloth will shift all the gunk off the plastic - gently done once again, try not to drown it.

Richard

[JPB]

Maybe a few drops of WD40 or similar penetrating fluid every day or so for a week to slowly work its way down through the threads.

[warthog1]

Yikes! Going to check mine out when I get home.

[ningnangnong]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks!

Yep, it's the lever clamp bolt! Given it a spray with WD-40 to start with, as I had that nearby, and will see how that goes. Malt vinegar next step if the WD-40 doesn't cut it.

I reckon the threads will be fine, it's just cleaning out the head so I can get an allen key in there.

Here's the right side for comparison:

[ningnangnong]

Yikes! Going to check mine out when I get home.

To be fair, that hood/bar tape has been on since June last year.

Last rode this bike in mid-September, so that's a good year and a bit, with a decent amount of kms.

I sweat a lot, as you can probably gather. I've tried all sorts of things to minimise the impact from sweat, but it seems to get into absolutely every nook and cranny on the bike you can think of.

[warthog1]

I perspire a bit too but it is cooler down here. That is next level!

[Andy01]

Perhaps CLR - undiluted ?

[foo on patrol]

Yikes! Going to check mine out when I get home.

I've always given mine a spray a couple of times a year, even the old stuff from the 70's.

Foo

[ningnangnong]

Thanks again all, I got the little bugger.

Now to clean it up.

[warthog1]

Thanks again all, I got the little bugger.

Well done.
How did you get it out?