Tag Archives: repair

Cross thread.

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11°C light rain under grey sky.
It should have been a simple job.
For a few weeks a cracking noise came from the Arrow’s bottom bracket. This has happened before when warm weather started. It’s as if the warmer, expanded metal gap loosened the lock-rings.
It should have taken an hour to fix it. It took over two.
The threads were stripped on the left side. That is a worrying sign of possible damage to the threads in the frame; a job for a frame builder.
Eventually, I got it out, cleaned the inside threads with a wire brush and got swarf in my finger.
It’s done now, but to play safe, I have a new bearing on order.

Touring wheels.

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-2°C, Clear sky, light NW breeze.
Cold commute tomorrow. Fitted the new rear wheel for the ride. Very low temperatures are forecast all week. Bitter.

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Here is another photo from Sunday’s outing on the cyclocross bike. Here, I am riding back from a dyke on the shore of the Ribble estuary. It looks like a flood effort on the edge of mud-flats. It’s a large nature sanctuary, dull of birds I don’t recognise.
With hindsight, I should have practised moving mounts and dismounts. It’s a competition technique for CX races but would also be useful on soft grassy land too. Like a roadie, I get on and pedal off. Trouble is, the first turn can spin the wheel. If you trot along then get on, you already have momentum to balance.
Next time…

Deore wheels.

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Light snow, 2°C, North wind 12,
You have to trust your wheels. The rim years the most and that’s where failure is most likely. The braking surface becomes thin with years of braking. Once thin, the surface can fracture- I know, the happened before. The tyre pressure exerts a strong force outwards, so breakage most often happens just after inflation.
What I really don’t want to have, it a failure 20 miles from home, in the dark. Nightmare.

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The idea that led me into the bike shop was to replace the rim and have a re-build. The old hub gap been rebuilt half a dozen times, had several axles and free-hubs. So I came out with a new pair of wheels. Confidence. Shimano still make the same hub with the same bearings as the old STX hubs I bought in the 90s.

Poorly LP12

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My Linn Sondek can barely turn the platter. The motor has very little torque. They are two phase 12v as far as I know. My guess is that one channel has failed on the Valhalla board or the motor itself. The former is quite an expensive repair. It is one that failed once before, not long after I bought it in 1986. Back then, it was covered by the guarantee.
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Here it is with the platter removed while I check the belt.
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Coastal ride, with punctures.

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9C, light SSW, dry, fine day.
Ride- CK: Distance: 40.60mi, time: 02:32:34, pace: 3:45min/mi, speed: 15.97mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/487826633
That didn’t go as planned! Decided on a coast ride, along the sea-front at Southport. Near Formby, the first puncture was dramatic, loud and deflated quickly. There was a car crash nearby and traffic was very slow.
The real problem was the crappy pump which broke the valve on one inner-tube.
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Fortune was on my ride today- hidden in a holiday centre was a bike shop. Not only did they sell me replacement inner-tubes but view fitted it. The Tyre was obviously split so the guy found a usable Tyre from out the back.
I will call in tomorrow and buy some kit. It looks like an excellent shop.
Gratefull.

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How do I fix this?

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5°C, heavy non-stop rain.

Repair: my phone line is often very poor, the crackle & hiss is so loud that I can’t hear what people are saying and it often cuts off my ADSL internet connection. Okay, but it costs £99 to get a British Telecom engineer out and they may decide that it’s an internal fault and not do any repair.

So, now on a very wet Sunday afternoon, I could replace the internet wiring run from the BT box. It’s an intermittent fault, and what do you know- it’s clear right now.