What you done t' your bike today

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Moff
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by Moff »

Figured an extra 10mm would be ok, when cruising I tend to sit the palm of my hands further forward on the top of the bars - think I’d be better of with a longer top tube in the long run.

Had the bars for ages but have been hesitant to put them on as having swapped from 30deg OG bars to the 16deg SQ Labs, felt weird going further back than I’d been before.

Maybe a while before I can get out properly to test them (road bike & Zwift for a bit longer), but a quick spin down the street felt a bit strange though that may also been to change back to rigid and the never tried before plus size tyre.

Time will tell.
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whitestone
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by whitestone »

Update to my last post. Cath's bottom bracket arrived this morning (took eight days to travel 13 miles!) so fitted that for her. Then it was "could you bleed the rear brake for me please?" :lol:

I never seem to get Shimano brakes perfectly bled - they always seem to lose a bit of bite from bleeding to refitting the wheel. I follow the various instructions exactly, maybe it's just how they are. Still, the rear wheel locks up under one finger braking so good for now.
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redefined_cycles
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

As per Gian/Alpinum input I removed the pads from the calipers... sanded em down and also the rotors too. Then checked on the pistons (they're plastic looking things :o ) by pumping em out and reseating whilst watching for any fluid. Couldn't see any so hopefully that won't be the issue :smile: that might be causing the brake squeal after a few DH decents...

The Nukeproof flatty pedals have been looking a bit sorry for themselves (one side seems to have grease coming out the rubber seal which I doubt a service would cure as its probably sloppy seals). Whacked em off. Checked on the bearings (well just checked the measurements and whay they were as I reckon I'd only have added tiny particles of grit if I'd tried to properly clean them) which to my delight are NSK so well done to NP. Regreased the spindles and put back together... I actually added silicone based grease on the one side that touches the rubber seals as I learnt recently that the wrong grease on rubber can cause the rubber to lose tautness :smile:

Now to go ride and careful bedding in procedures...
ScotRoutes
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by ScotRoutes »

Put the 29er wheels on the Pact.

That's (I think) only the third time they've been on in the 3 years or so since I built it. Not sure there's any advantage over the B+ wheels TBH, certainly not with 2.1" tyres fitted. Maybe a wee bit faster on the tarmac, but less cush over the rough stuff for sure.
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fatbikephil
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by fatbikephil »

Bleedin' brakes.....
I know there is tons of stuff on the web on how to bleed shimano brakes but I was bored this afternoon so I thought I'd do a wee how too post. Feel free to ignore :mrgreen:

Anyway I threw a set of SLX brakes at the Jones just after I first built it back in Jan 2017. Since then I've done naff all too them other than washing and changing a few sets of pads. The other day I lost the lever for no readily apparent reason. Leaving it tied shut for 5 minutes got it back again and one draggy brakey descent later it was fine, but I figured it could do with a fluid refresh and bleed.

Shimano hydros are finicky to bleed. The Epic bleed solutions destructions for doing this have changed quite a bit since I bought my kit off them back in 2013 and the latest (available from their web) is quite protracted, evidence that they too have had a few issues bleeding these brakes. Once you get them done they are the most idiot proof brakes I've used so its worth the faff. They also use mineral oil rather horrible brake fluid so no corrosive liquid spraying over the place and welding the bleed nipple into the caliper as per hopes....

I followed there destructions pretty much to the full but added in a few of my own tweaks..... First up is to clean everything - I gave em a skoosh of brake cleaner, made with my toothbrush and then gave em a further skoosh. I then pumped the pistons out as far as I dared. This will prevent air bubbles getting trapped behind them.

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I use a shimano funnel as it has a neat feature that makes it better than the open syringe in the EB kit - more later. Here screwed into the bleed port. Set the bars and the brake lever so that the funnel is level

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Syringe full of oil attached to the bleed nipple. You can spot a bubble in the pipe, this appeared after I unscrewed the bleed nipple half a turn and it will rise up into the syringe. Give the plunger a gentle pull to encourage it. You will now have air free oil on the inside of the caliper.

Tape the pipe to the fork leg to hold it in place, otherwise at some point you will spray oil all over the place. I'm in my downstairs spare room as its freezing in the shed so this is of particular importance. For oil I use LHM mineral oil meant for old citroens. You used to be able to get this from Halfords but they don't stock it anymore. I bought a litre for £5 in about 1996 for my maguras and this is still half full. I have one more full one bought for a quid from their bargain bin! Any 10 wt hydraulic oil will do for example fork oil. Shimano branded oil is a total rip off and if, like me, you are flushing out old fluid you can easily use two bottles in one sesh. F**** that!

Now its time to push oil from the syringe through the caliper, up the hose and into the master cylinder res. Shimano brakes are weird in that they have a small res but its sealed and your meant to get all the air out of it. Its got a wee diaphram in it to take up brake pad wear and allow for heat expansion (which is an issue on these brakes hence Shimano doing those disks with an alloy sandwich and fins on the brake pads. Its rarely a problem for most situations)

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Not too bad for three years of use. Note bubbles - fair few came out. Keep pushing until clean, air free fluid flows into the funnel. This is where the shimano funnel is handy. You get a wee stick with an O ring on the end so you can shove this in the hole at the bottom and remove the funnel without spilling oil everywhere. You then dump this (responsibly!) and screw the funnel back on, then pump more clean fluid back into it and shut the bleed nipple. The EB kit uses an open syringe so you have to use the other syringe to sook oil out of it which is more faff.....

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Next up, remove the syringe and squirt excess oil back into the bottle. Open the bleed nipple and allow fluid to flow through the system from the funnel and down the pipe. Your meant to have a jar or a bag to catch it but I didn't bother. No air came out so I shut the nipple and removed the pipe. No lever pumping required it syphons through nicely. Finally push the pistons all the way back into the caliper (top tip use two halves of a wooden clothes peg to do this - easy peasy and won't knacker the pistons) This is important as if you seal everything up with the pistons out you won't be able to push them back when you come to fit your new pads. Even if your bunging the old ones back in still do this as you'll be putting new pads in at some point..... Its also a good way of ensuring no air is trapped in the MC before removing the funnel and putting in the bleed port screw.

Back one next and one disadvantage of chainstay mounted calipers - the bleed nipple and hose banjo are at the bottom so if you bleed it in situ its easy to trap air in the top of the caliper. (The fluid port between the caliper halves is right between the bleed nipple and banjo bolt.)

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On the Jones I just unbolted one of the caliper mounts, loosened the other and pivoted the caliper so it was vertical. If you have post or flat mounts just unbolt the caliper and let it dangle on the hose.

Then it was a case of repeat the above. The fluid was very black and a fair few bubbles came out of both the caliper and the MC, hence my lever issues I guess. I suspect that 'factory bled' isn't necessarily that good so worth doing this on new brakes.

Then its a case of clean everything, shove in new pads, pump the levers and hopefully you'll have a nice solid lever. I did! So it was on with the gear and off for a blast to bed the new pads in. Its always worth giving everything a once over before you finish up - I'd forgotten to screw in the MC bleed port screw.....

I did notice the rotors were quite worn with a noticeable lip on the edge of both sides of both discs. Thinking about it the front one is 9 years old and the back 7 so they haven't done too badly as they have seen a lot of service. New ones are £90 the pair but cheap as chips compared to motorcycle discs. Its worth getting the floating ones as normal ones warp after a couple of years whereas these are still totally true. I also see that Hope are again doing 220 rotors. This one dated from the 6 pot days and they were unavailable for many years so its good to see I can get another. With disks, bigger is always better :-bd
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by BigdummySteve »

9 years old! That’s wearing well. I replaced my 180mm disks when I fitted the hope RX4 calipers, that was just before the Spanish C2C last may, I’m now .1 if a mm before the minimum thickness on Shimano icetech rotors. Just about a year of use.
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fatbikephil
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by fatbikephil »

I've heard that ice tec rotors wear quite quick. That said the ones on my Ice cream truck seem OK and they are coming up to 6 years old...... Maybe I need to brake more
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Jurassic
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by Jurassic »

htrider wrote: Fri May 15, 2020 12:58 pm I've heard that ice tec rotors wear quite quick. That said the ones on my Ice cream truck seem OK and they are coming up to 6 years old...... Maybe I need to brake more
I wonder if it depends on heat build up? I've had Ice Tech rotors on my fat bike for around four years and they're still doing fine but then the fatty tends to get used in wet and/or cold conditions when speeds tend to be lower anyway as it's slippery and they probably don't get as hot. I've just got some to go on my gravel bike as well so we'll see how those fare in comparison.
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Jurassic
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by Jurassic »

I spent the last couple of days installing and then fettling the GRX components (brifters, brakes and rear mech) I've just got for my gravel bike. Installation went smoothly and everything seemed to be working fine on the bike stand so yesterday I did a short test ride. Brakes and rear shifting were fine however the front mech was problematic. I'd previously been running a Shimano mountain bike chainset and front mech driven by SRAM shifters which worked great after some initial bodging so I was hoping Shimano shifters would been less problematic to set up with the same front components. The shifting that worked fine on the stand wasn't happening under load in the real world so today was spent fannying around attempting to rectify the situation. The breakthrough came after I remembered that I'd bent the cage on the front mech to make it work with the SRAM shifters, a bit of judicious mangling with the "Englander" had things functioning well again. :-bd I have to say that the ergonomics and operation of the Shimano shifters are significantly better than the SRAM ones to my mind (and that comes from someone who has only previously run SRAM and Campag road shifters so it's not a brand loyalty thing).
bluebus200
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by bluebus200 »

I've been doing a bit of grx fiddling today too...only the chainset (40/30). Matched up to a suntour 11/40 cassette. All pretty good except the tiagra front mech really doesn't like the 2.5mm outward shift of the chainset...which I knew might happen but thought I'd give it a go anyways...it works but fouls at the extremes. Reckon I can live with it for a bit. Dropped into a bike shop to ask what they thought ( as in am I just terrible at setting up mechs) the guy said he had a 105 mech that might would work with grx. I said it would have the same problem as the tiagra one. He said it wouldn't. Came back 20 minutes later....can't make it work, mate, grx are 2.5mm furtherout, you need to get a grx mech, that'll be £15 for trying. I then said I told you that already and my info will cost you £15. Not naming names but it's a main dealer who stock Shimano..you'd think they would know.
redefined_cycles
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

Not actually today but over the course of the week or so as on hols from contracted work (on 22H) and no work from agency work as its a bit quiet with everyone having been redeployed (or summat!). In no particular order but I'll try...

DMR v6 pedals and new bottom bracket went into the Isla for the little man. Not sure if he felt any difference as the hubs were regreased aswell and cranks/sprocket wiped a little and chain relubed (not washed or cleaned as such... that'd be going above and beyond)... Seemed to be holding his wheelies a split second longer though so, result!

Then there's been a bit of a clicking from the bike which I assumed was the pedals. The grease had seeped through one side of the seal. So out they came and bearings and splindle. They're SKF and pedals are only at about 400 miles so didnt expect the bearings to be gone and they're to small to properly check for any obvious clicking/wear. I assumed they're good and regreased everything and put all back together. Grease still seeping out. Ordered some red rubber grease - which apparently doesn't affect rubber and hence not causing it to slacken - as well as some new rubber seals off fleabay on the cheap. Still a little clicking so assumed I'd preloaded the bearings a bit much.

Well done Nukeproof for including top notch bearings in their gear and also using silicone paste at the rubber seal end at least. Well it looked like it was...

Slackened off bearings a touch and suddenly smooth as butter. But some sort of clicky still remained. So next, out came the cranks - shimano m8000 BB which I've noticed with these newer Shimano tech they don't show wear as obviously as you'd expect and there was no side play - and checked on the BB. 800 miles of mixed riding and both cups still felt smooth. Applied some grease wherever I could access the edge of the seal and whacked it back together.

Well done Shimano for always pushing the limits of whats possible and am hoping the BB might just give me anothee 1000 miles of lovely riding :smile:

Everything back together and without going for a ride I could feel the grind... Still there but dampened and no clicky anymore. Rear hub culprit. Opened it all, quick service and clean and regrease (aren't DT ratchet hibs lovely... thanks to whoever on here - someone with an Orbea, maybe Colin - sold em me as they're lovely wheels) and suddenly everything feeling (almost) buttery smooth again. Might need a wash at some point in the next couple months :???:

Then the squeal from the brakes was back. As Gian suggested, I kept a low threshold for the disc. Checked it over and it was almost at its 1.5mm limit and the step in the braking surfsce was obvious. Quick fleabay later a 180mm disc was in my bag (went and collected from Huddersfield up the road) and then a quick message to Tom at Halfords and I was sorted with a bracket. Disc on, checked on the pads and they seem to have life remaining. Gave em a good sand down and back together.

Went and rode it and everything seemed spot on :-bd

Bikes (and singletracks)... aren't they lovely

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redefined_cycles
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

One quick note (personal experience but it could be placebo :lol: ) about bottom brackets and torque. Many many years ago I used to have my work done by the LBS. Then something happened and he allowed me to voulnteer at his shop and I started building my own bikes etc etc (even got a few customers... at least 5 on average per year).

This mech friend of mine used to have a calibrated shoulder and thats how he used to screw in my BBs... for a good 2 years or so I'd need a new BB every 5 months or so. Absolutely normal I guess. But then I started doing my own stuff and using my dads (uncalibrated, cheap looking) torque wrench and suddenly the same grade of BBs were lasting me significanrly longer by a good 6 months.

Just an observation that I thought to share
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Boab
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by Boab »

Ever since I built my bike in November, there's been a tiny bit of play in the headset that I can't get rid of. I do it all up and it's fine, but after a few kilometres of bridleway and byway, the play comes back. So I decided to buy a new compression bung and see if that would help. Think I might need a new bottom bearing though:

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For some reason, even though I was warned I'd need a short bolt for the top cap, I just assumed the bung would sit on the spacers and not the actual steerer tube. I knackered my hacksaw a couple of weeks ago and haven't replaced it, so can't cut down an existing bolt. Is there a standard bolt type for top caps and does anyone have a source for short ones...?

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One thing that's always pissed my off about my bike, is the lack of any torque settings for the compression bung and stem. So I went with 10Nm, as that's the lowest my big torque wrench will do. This didn't happen last time...

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Luckily I still had the stem from my defunct Calibre Dune, which apart from being too short, fitted the stem and bars. So at least I could go for a ride with my son once I'd put it all back together. Nice and solid when we left the house, half way round or gentle pootle, the play was back.

I'm begining to think it's the bottom bearing not sitting on the race properly, as I'm totally out of ideas otherwise...
There are theories at the bottom of my jargon.
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by BigdummySteve »

Finished building the rear wheel :YMPARTY:
I don’t have a wheel building stand so did it in the frame
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Ghetto dishing gauge
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The bladed spokes were a joy to build with, you have to use a holder to prevent them twisting but that means every turn of the key actually moves the nipple rather than twisting the spoke.

Just been for ride around the block, the Oynx hub is amazing, instant engagement but the real party trick is when you freewheel. Absolutely silent! All you hear is the tyres on the road and the bike just rolls and rolls. It’s a very different experience compared to the hope it replaced and hard to describe, rolling into a corner in silence is addictive.
I’m going to have a hard time riding a Hope again.
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Cyclepeasant
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by Cyclepeasant »

Nice build BDS!
Silent freewheels....magic! :-bd
I have spent hours trying to quieten freehubs ,
I have serviced hope hubs ,nice engineering ,but,far too noisy!
Stealth is cool! :cool:
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by BigdummySteve »

Managed a proper ride on it today, 53miles, it’s a thing of sheer joy. It’s very hard to describe but it’s a whole new experience, apart from the instant pick up which in nice, the main difference is the freewheeling, once you point it downhill it just accelerates quickly and in absolute silence apart from the tyres and wind noise, no vibration from the free hub either. I reminds me of my very high performance parachute, you would do your final turn to land from 400ft, pull a 180 degree turn diving hard, you would then level it out at about 1ft above the ground at 60mph and fly along swooping above the daisies.
My bike now can fly! It’s very enjoyable, although it’s faster rolling I might actually be slower down hill as pedalling ruins it :-bd
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whitestone
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by whitestone »

I've looked at Onyx hubs, specifically for a fat bike as the zero degree pickup helps in snow.

But the cost :shock:
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redefined_cycles
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

whitestone wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 4:19 pm I've looked at Onyx hubs, specifically for a fat bike as the zero degree pickup helps in snow.

But the cost :shock:
Zero engagement Bob. I assume its got more pawls to engage faster?? How does that help out in the snow (is it cos of the freesing temps so less lieklihood of not catching?) please Bob...

If its faster/better engagement, have you considered the DT ratchet huns and then uograde the ratchet mechanism for the ones with more teeth... :???:
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whitestone
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by whitestone »

The Onyx doesn't use pawls and ratchet but a sprag clutch.

Ever walked on snow and then you suddenly break through the crust and go down to your knee? That's what you are trying to avoid, with a pawl system you start moving your pedals ... and then they catch. That jolt can be enough to cause the rear wheel to dig itself down into the snow. Basically the smoother you can be the better.
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by BigdummySteve »

No pawls, it’s got a sprag clutch, a simple yet clever idea.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PVMVQy2yKDE
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techno
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by techno »

redefined_cycles wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 5:27 pm
whitestone wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 4:19 pm I've looked at Onyx hubs, specifically for a fat bike as the zero degree pickup helps in snow.

But the cost :shock:
Zero engagement Bob. I assume its got more pawls to engage faster?? How does that help out in the snow (is it cos of the freesing temps so less lieklihood of not catching?) please Bob...

If its faster/better engagement, have you considered the DT ratchet huns and then uograde the ratchet mechanism for the ones with more teeth... :???:
Look it up shaf, they're really smart. they're a sort of toothless ratchet (although that's probably an oxymoron):
https://youtu.be/en1HhxKwdJo

Edit: beaten to it :-bd
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by BigdummySteve »

whitestone wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 5:35 pm The Onyx doesn't use pawls and ratchet but a sprag clutch.

Ever walked on snow and then you suddenly break through the crust and go down to your knee? That's what you are trying to avoid, with a pawl system you start moving your pedals ... and then they catch. That jolt can be enough to cause the rear wheel to dig itself down into the snow. Basically the smoother you can be the better.
You’d love the onyx then, it’s instant yet with no jolt.
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redefined_cycles
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

Sounds proper cool and 'smooooth'. Thanks for the snow explanation Bob, well explained.

Looked at the BPing.net artocle and now that I understand what iy properly is I can safely say, well Done Steve and the price of a set of forks well spent :smile: :-bd I wants one (as soon as I manage to get sorted from my clunky Xfusion shocks)...
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by redefined_cycles »

One question on the pawls (sprags.. whatever) being in 'need to be hardened to handle the forces' (according to athe BPing.net article: does it mean that they'll wear down the inside of the freehub/hub innards as it wears. Or can a replacement be done cheaply and effectively without needing a new full hub after 5000 or so miles. :???:
Last edited by redefined_cycles on Sun May 24, 2020 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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voodoo_simon
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Re: What you done t' your bike today

Post by voodoo_simon »

Had a quick setup of my bags to see how they would fit onto my (newish) bike. Very tight on the both ends
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