Originally Posted by VT tallbike

Leather Saddle Restoration

Thing's you'll need:

1. Old saddle in need of love
2. Beer
3. Proofide / Snoseal/ or some other wax based leather treatment
4. C-Clamps /Twine
5. Oven
6. About 1.5 hours

Ok time to get started.

Step 1. Open Beer
Step 2. Turn on oven to about 200 F
Step 3. Apply proofide to saddle (Focus more on the underside, but get the top too.)
Step 4. Place in Oven for about 5 min. In the mean time enjoy beer.
Step 5. Remove from oven. Let cool another 5 min. Enjoy more brew.
Step 6. Repeat step 3
Step 7. If the sides are splayed outwards clamp them in in the seat rails with seat clamps. if not skip this step.
Step 8. Place back in oven for another 5 min.
Step 9. Remove, and repeat above steps as necessary.

!!!!Be sure to let Saddle cool/dry over night before removing clamps!!!!!

Originally Posted by wroomwroomoops

Thought I'd show off some of the wheels I've built (happy opportunity they were gathered together one day):

All of them have been built to a very high degree of precision - both eccentricity as well as lateral trueness. They will all balance on the axle (rim stays horizontal).

Originally Posted by jol

De-anodising (anodizing - for the stateside) and polishing a Cinelli quill stem
(or any other aluminium (aluminum - as before) part)
The [165] with-beer method.

Tools


Beer. (Weird one my girls dad had. MVP?)
Oven cleaner. (Sodium Hydroxide is the chemical you need I believe)
Fine grade wet'n'dry paper. (This was 1200 grit.)
Cup of water for the wet'n'dry.
Your aluminium part. (Disassembled as much as possible)
Metal polish cream. (Not pictured sorry. Mine was Autosol)
2 Cotton rags. (Old pyjamas pictured)
Old bucket or tray. (For the oven cleaner)

This stem was bought off Ebay and was a little shabby. Few knocks and scratches and
generally dull looking with it's factory anodise.


Step 1
Remove all parts/bolts and put part to be de-anodised in an old bucket/tray.
Spray on oven cleaner making sure not to get it on you or in your lungs.
A good coating helps. I don't think you can have too much. I had to turn
the stem with a stick to get at all the sides. Leave it for 10-15 minutes and have some ale.


Step 2
Rinse off all the cleaner a couple of times before you touch the part.

The part should be dull all over. If there are still spots of anodise, hit it again.

Step 3
Use the wet'n'dry to sand out any deep scratches, a general all-over rub works well at getting a
smooth surface. Avoid sanding any logos/pantographs if you care. The part should now look like this.


Step 4
Here is where the rubbing begins. You might need more beer. I did.
The method I find works best is to wrap an index finger in cotton cloth and apply a small blob of
metal polish cream to the fingertip. Rub the part like crazy all over for as long as you can bare.
Then get a clean rag (your 'dry' rag) and buff the polish off. The more times you repeat these
steps the more mirror-like the finish. I actually find it really satisfying but beer does help.

Bling
Your new shiny part.




Hope this helps. I tried using a dremel on a Campy Aero post a few weeks ago and find this method works better.
Now I just need the rest of the bike! Pics when finished.

Cheers.
JOL

Originally Posted by sreilly845

could you add some information to clarify the JIS and ISO differences, they're a pain in the ass if ya mix em

also, i vote to re-sticky as well

Originally Posted by peitrus

Is there a DIY for a top tube protector AKA guard

Similar to this:


I've seen some people with their own home made guard from home depot or what not, but I have yet been able to find a DIY write up.

kthnxbye