For Want Of A Nail....
10-07-21, 02:38 PM
#26
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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Is it that they don't have the spacer or the employee just didn't understand what you were looking for because you had a threaded headset?
Working at a well known Boston shop around 1995 or so I saw an employee refuse to sell someone a freewheel for an older Fuji (something like an '85ish Team or Ravoli) but anyway the customer asked for a Suntour freewheel and since we didn't have any Suntour freewheels on the shelf this guy wouldn't sell him anything despite my repeatedly telling him a Sachs FW would work even better than the Suntour. He said NO since it had a Suntour RD it had to have a Suntour FW to shift properly. I think it has been down hill for shop service since that day.
Working at a well known Boston shop around 1995 or so I saw an employee refuse to sell someone a freewheel for an older Fuji (something like an '85ish Team or Ravoli) but anyway the customer asked for a Suntour freewheel and since we didn't have any Suntour freewheels on the shelf this guy wouldn't sell him anything despite my repeatedly telling him a Sachs FW would work even better than the Suntour. He said NO since it had a Suntour RD it had to have a Suntour FW to shift properly. I think it has been down hill for shop service since that day.
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10-07-21, 03:20 PM
#28
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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So if you want to speed up, just turn toward the headlights of an oncoming car.
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
10-08-21, 09:14 AM
#29
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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It looks like the Bag-O'-Spacers will arrive today. As someone familiar with the work of Murphy et al. on probability, I believe the unexpectedly early arrival is largely due to my having cut down the reflector mount and completing the build. Had I waited for the REAL spacers, they would be lost in transit somewhere in the bowels of the USPS. As it was, I was able to take the Ironman out for its shakedown cruise last evening after work.
Still needs a bit of work on position. Saddle may need to come up half a cm and I think the bars could also come up about that much. But the ride is fantastic, it encourages high cadence, and it's stable hands-off even in a crosswind. Oh! And it's damn near silent. I attribute that to a new chain and new grease in the BB.
Still needs a bit of work on position. Saddle may need to come up half a cm and I think the bars could also come up about that much. But the ride is fantastic, it encourages high cadence, and it's stable hands-off even in a crosswind. Oh! And it's damn near silent. I attribute that to a new chain and new grease in the BB.
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
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10-08-21, 09:19 AM
#30
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@genejockey That looks great! I hope you are bringing it to the C&V Peninsula ride next month to show it off.
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10-08-21, 09:30 AM
#32
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FYI Cupertino bike Shop[ Just moved to Di Anza Blvd in Cupertino. Much better location in my opinion , great street frontage. They are still sorting things out after the move so Greg may not yet know where to find the odd widget. Still, worth a visit if for no other reason than to check out the new digs.
We have tons of old parts at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange (bikex.org) now in Palo Alto off 101 and San Antonio rd. and may be able to help out with some requests. If you haven't seen our shop I highly recommend a visit. We are doing Saturday work days twice a month now along with weekly Wednesday's for you retired or jobless folks. Great crew and every imaginable kind of bike to work on. We get hundreds of bikes donated to us every year that we fix up and donate back into the community to folks that need them. I root out neglected classics and restore them for us to sell . Here is a Schwinn Super Sport I just finished. I had a problem with the front derailleur as the tubing on the bike is larger that standard. I was able to relieve the edges of the clamp a little to make it fit.
We have tons of old parts at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange (bikex.org) now in Palo Alto off 101 and San Antonio rd. and may be able to help out with some requests. If you haven't seen our shop I highly recommend a visit. We are doing Saturday work days twice a month now along with weekly Wednesday's for you retired or jobless folks. Great crew and every imaginable kind of bike to work on. We get hundreds of bikes donated to us every year that we fix up and donate back into the community to folks that need them. I root out neglected classics and restore them for us to sell . Here is a Schwinn Super Sport I just finished. I had a problem with the front derailleur as the tubing on the bike is larger that standard. I was able to relieve the edges of the clamp a little to make it fit.
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10-08-21, 12:23 PM
#33
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10-08-21, 02:04 PM
#34
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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I remember a GCN video, where their presenter who lives in New England was building up an Orbea and cut the steerer too short. He actually went outside and lay down on the lawn, he felt so bad about it. So, no steerer cutting for Ma Smith's boy.
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
10-08-21, 02:17 PM
#35
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I'll submit that a spacer without the bitty key are better even. I've seen plenty of those key nubs turned and ground away, which makes life harder and damages the steerer tube. I've filed them off when in doubt. I believe the key's interface was only a manufacturing convenience. File the key off the spacer, put it all together and use two wrenches properly.
Is it that they don't have the spacer or the employee just didn't understand what you were looking for because you had a threaded headset?
Working at a well known Boston shop around 1995 or so I saw an employee refuse to sell someone a freewheel for an older Fuji (something like an '85ish Team or Ravoli) but anyway the customer asked for a Suntour freewheel and since we didn't have any Suntour freewheels on the shelf this guy wouldn't sell him anything despite my repeatedly telling him a Sachs FW would work even better than the Suntour. He said NO since it had a Suntour RD it had to have a Suntour FW to shift properly. I think it has been down hill for shop service since that day.
Working at a well known Boston shop around 1995 or so I saw an employee refuse to sell someone a freewheel for an older Fuji (something like an '85ish Team or Ravoli) but anyway the customer asked for a Suntour freewheel and since we didn't have any Suntour freewheels on the shelf this guy wouldn't sell him anything despite my repeatedly telling him a Sachs FW would work even better than the Suntour. He said NO since it had a Suntour RD it had to have a Suntour FW to shift properly. I think it has been down hill for shop service since that day.
I recently acquired a 1985 Centurion Ironman in really good condition, but of course I stripped it down, cleaned it and am putting it back together - original stem and bars is one thing. Original grease in the BB and headset is something else entirely. It came with what I assume was the original front reflector, which puzzled me because it had none of the other reflectors. This one was one of those that fits into the headset under the locking nut.
It turns out, that is exactly why it was there. Without it, the lock nut bottoms out on the top of the steerer before contacting the top cup, so it doesn't lock up anything. "Oh, well," I thought, "I'll just run out to a bike store and pick up a spacer to replace it."
Yeah, right.
I'd figured any shop that's been in business more than 10 years would have a bunch of these. Turns out, not so much. So I turned to Ebay, where I discovered you could either buy a pack of 10 of them, or buy a single one from Europe and pay exorbitant shipping and wait a few weeks. So I ordered a 10 pack, and meanwhile used a hacksaw to cut the reflector mount down to a 3/4 circle I could use as a spacer in the meanwhile to complete the build, pending the arrival of the spacer I needed and 9 more that I don't.
So, first, where did all the spacers go? And second, have you ever been stymied by the inability to find what SHOULD BE a common-as-dirt part that EVERYONE used to have?
It turns out, that is exactly why it was there. Without it, the lock nut bottoms out on the top of the steerer before contacting the top cup, so it doesn't lock up anything. "Oh, well," I thought, "I'll just run out to a bike store and pick up a spacer to replace it."
Yeah, right.
I'd figured any shop that's been in business more than 10 years would have a bunch of these. Turns out, not so much. So I turned to Ebay, where I discovered you could either buy a pack of 10 of them, or buy a single one from Europe and pay exorbitant shipping and wait a few weeks. So I ordered a 10 pack, and meanwhile used a hacksaw to cut the reflector mount down to a 3/4 circle I could use as a spacer in the meanwhile to complete the build, pending the arrival of the spacer I needed and 9 more that I don't.
So, first, where did all the spacers go? And second, have you ever been stymied by the inability to find what SHOULD BE a common-as-dirt part that EVERYONE used to have?
New bikes with no rim brakes, new groups with no cable only option, the end is nigh.
"Oh we can't adjust that, we just upgrade and move on"
10-09-21, 09:09 AM
#36
Junior Member
Not to divert the original topic, but I think it is close enough…
when you re-assemble the headset, do you grease the fork or headset threads threads?
I have had several bikes where top cap comes loose over time. I check for bottoming out of top cap, doesn’t seem to be case. I do have some grease in there, and am wondering if dry is better?
On this one I even marked to see if it comes loose.
when you re-assemble the headset, do you grease the fork or headset threads threads?
I have had several bikes where top cap comes loose over time. I check for bottoming out of top cap, doesn’t seem to be case. I do have some grease in there, and am wondering if dry is better?
On this one I even marked to see if it comes loose.
10-09-21, 09:52 AM
#37
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I come across this problem a lot as I build a lot of bikes that I flip. The other day in fact I was building up a Nishiki Prestige that I replaced the original headset with a new Tange unit that had a much shorter stack height plus I wanted to leave out the keyed reflector mount, my stash of 1" spacers is thin so turned to my old trick to get it right. I had a 80's Stihl weed trimmer outer shaft that is heat treated aluminum and it fits over a 1" headtube like it was made for it, I use a pipe cutter to cut them to the thickness I need. When I started using this it was almost 6' long now I only have about 5" left as I have made so many spacers out of it. Below is a picture of the first time I used it, I installed a new fork on this bike and didn't want to cut the headtube down and made this big ol spacer. I can make any size I need and it works very well.
10-09-21, 10:14 AM
#38
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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Update:
Spacers arrived last night. I was able to swap out the cut-down reflector bracket ring for an actual 2mm spacer without too much fuss - I just had to undo the front brake cable. Didn't even have to take off the cable crimp!
Spacers arrived last night. I was able to swap out the cut-down reflector bracket ring for an actual 2mm spacer without too much fuss - I just had to undo the front brake cable. Didn't even have to take off the cable crimp!
__________________
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles
