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Your Most Recent Cycling-related Repair

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Your Most Recent Cycling-related Repair

Old 11-03-21, 12:14 PM
  #126  
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Would have to define repair... mine is self inflicted.
I purchased new wheels, installed the tires along with some new rotors. One rotor was not perfectly true from the factory (Shimano Dura Ace, kinda disappointed about that). I trued the rotor to get rid of a slight rub on the pads.

Next up is truing up the new wheels - again, disappointed. I didn't expect absolute perfection, but they wobble enough to aggravate me, especially on the front wheel. I ordered a truing stand, spoke wrench and thru axle adapter. I have trued wheels many years ago on cheaper bikes that I beat on with rim brakes using just the brakes as my guide and a crescent wrench. If I could do that as a early teen kid surely I can still do it with the right equipment.
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Old 11-04-21, 05:52 AM
  #127  
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I did not know that a crescent wrench is what I call an adjustable spanner, nor that truing stands existed. I am still attempting teen-style truing, with varying degrees of success. Good luck with your new tools. s

If the deformation of your Shimano parts were the result of mis-manufacture (rather than the postal service) then I would have thought, hitherto, that Shimano would replace the parts.
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Old 11-09-21, 10:44 PM
  #128  
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I put table leg rubber on the heels of my Sidi shoes too. The Sidi heel pads were still intact (less so on the left hand shoe) but the slots in the bolt heads were difficult (right shoe, shown) to impossible (left shoe) to unscrew using a screwdriver. I had to grind down the head of the bolt and grip it with pliers to get the old heel off.

"Sidified" because I have been putting screw on heel pads on the soles of my Shimano shoes, a process which I call by that name. Here the name is inappropriate but I am doing pretty much the same thing, except that I do not need to drill a hole and insert a claw bolt because there is one already there.


Sidified Sidis by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

The table leg rubber was near free at the time i got it from Aliexpress in China but the price of the shipping has gone up. I suspect that other sellers are still selling them for fewer US cents. They work just as well as the Sidi heel pads and I rarely look at the soles of my shoes.
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005001781275356.html


Pictured are the near indestructible hard plastic SPD-SL cleats that are slippery at first.
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Old 11-09-21, 11:27 PM
  #129  
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replaced the 5 yr old original bottom bracket and bearings in my Emonda with a BBInfinite PF86 BB. Very sweet and easy install.
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Old 11-11-21, 01:49 AM
  #130  
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Originally Posted by jaxgtr
replaced the 5 yr old original bottom bracket and bearings in my Emonda with a BBInfinite PF86 BB. Very sweet and easy install.
BB replacement is so satisfying.

I get my bottom brackets from China however.

This is a BB86 (PF86) from China at about 26.20 USD
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33023047002.html
This is one from Shimano at 230 USD (8.77 times the price)
https://www.bbinfinite.com/products/...ant=9864640707
My guess is that the one from Shimano lasts longer.
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Old 11-15-21, 11:14 PM
  #131  
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I attempted to change my cleat (to the new hard indestructible type) but broke off a cleat bolt. The cleat nut on the inside of my Shimano carbon shoes is a triangular nut that joins all three cleat bolts. On I tried to drill out the bolt with no joy. Shimano don't sell triangular nuts anymore (only sort of plate things, with part number ESMSHRP900CLNT) so I cut the busted apex of the V off.

I then used a claw nut (or T nut) as the third cleat nut.

The problems were

1) The cylinder of the nut was too long. I had to grind it down once before insertion and again to remove the portion of the cylinder protruding from the bottom of the sole.

2) The little claws on the claw nut were not going to register (make holes in) the rock hard carbon sole. Fortunately my penultimate nut left marks where the claws had tried and failed to get into the carbon and I drilled four 2mm holes from those marks. I made the holes bigger, 2.5mm, from the outside and eventually managed to get the three of the four claws to register. It is important to bash the nut into the sole with a hammer and steel rod, till the T of the nut is firmly up against the inside of the sole, rather than to attempt to turn it in using a nut from the outside, because the little claws will bend as you turn unless they are fully embedded with the T plate of the nut up against a surface.
Here is what it looked like from the outside.

New Cleat Nut by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
Here it is with a new slippery hard plastic cleat. I may grind the apexes of the cleat a bit to give it more friction. Their hardness is wonderful but at first they are like skates.

New Cleat by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

EDIT
1) I could drill from the outside. Durr.
2) I could make a simple die, perhaps out of an aluminium plate, with a large bolt protruding in the centre to centre the die, and four holes properly placed for the little claw nut holes and drill through them.
Then I could easily replace all three cleat nuts on each shoe quite quickly. I have ordered more M5 cleat claw nuts from here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32898135040.html

Last edited by timtak; 11-17-21 at 07:52 PM. Reason: Future possibilities. Claw nut image link.
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Old 11-26-21, 08:41 PM
  #132  
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I mended my Orange shoe covers sewing some blue tape to the toes. They are beach shoes/socks with holes cut in the base. They were less than 3USD from aliexpress e.g. here

Beach Shoe Cycling Shoe Covers by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
But even the XXL only fits up to a 42 27 cm shoe, and then only my thin Sidis. I also use PET bottle (soda bottle?) covers (that keep soda cool or warm) for 1 usd each shoe, as mentioned earlier in the thread, but I like the fluorescent colours of the beach shoes. Castelli sells a "Toe thingy" for about 25USD, and they used to be made in yellow, but 25USD!? There is also a Pearl Izumi cover for 60USD on amazon Japan! The toe covers from aliexpress tend to only come in black but I see there is one with reflective stuff for 4USD. Black cycle wear is a pain in my brain.

I also wondered about whether I should change my 11t sprocket/cog because it skipped but it seems to have stopped skipping. For some reason new chains skip for a while. There is a thread about new chain skipping with all sorts of theories but I am not sure that there is a definitive answer. I am wondering what the purpose of the pointy tooth on some of my cogs is (in the just past noon position). Could the pointy cog be a wear indicator? I.e. when it is down to almost nothing it is time to change cog?

I never know when to change my cassette by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

I could also purchase a sprocket wear indicator but I am too much of a skinflint and they do not check wear on sprockets smaller than 12t apparently (see review of first product).
https://www.amazon.com/Unior-Sprocke...vw_txt?ie=UTF8
https://www.amazon.com/Rohloff-HG-Sp...dp/B00BGDPPIM/

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Old 11-26-21, 09:12 PM
  #133  
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The nice XTR caliper I inherited from the parts drawer for my Marin dirt jumper turned out to have bad piston seals so it leaked...and the pads got contaminated...and noise happened. Boss man had an apparently unused XT caliper in his personal drawer, so I tried that. First pull of the lever when bleeding it...sploooosh all over the floor. At this point I said 'f this' and went into our parts room (known as the 'meat locker' for it's great looks) and grabbed a SRAM Level T set-up and put that on. No noise...yet.




ETA: D'ooooohhh...so not a road bike. Sorry...

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Old 11-28-21, 06:22 AM
  #134  
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Originally Posted by cxwrench
ETA: D'ooooohhh...so not a road bike. Sorry...
No worries. Now I realise that disk brakes can leak in this way. Bits of wire do not leak. A reason to stay with rim brakes. Thank you.

My rear cassette has stopped jumping so I won't be replacing it for a while yet but I am going to order an 11t cog because I think it is likely to go first.

My shoe covers in green are lovely but small. For my other shoes I have decided to sew them myself and have ordered some fluorescent green neoprene for that purpose. I plan to sew my own toe things.
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Old 11-29-21, 05:22 PM
  #135  
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blew through another battery in my Bontrager Duotrap sensor.... I so want to love this thing, but when the battery gets a little low, the cadence is the only thing that that will not work..... I am so over this thing. Replaced the battery and just ordered the Wahoo Speed and Cadence sensors to match up with my Wahoo Elemnt Roam
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Old 12-15-21, 12:43 AM
  #136  
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As mentioned above, I planned to, and did sew my own neon green cycling shoe toe covers (based on Castelli Toe Thingy 2 which used to come in a similar colour for $25) from a sheet of neoprene purchased from aliexpress for 2USD. They go over the top of my black ones for added warmth now that the weather is about 2-3 degrees in the mornings.

Toe Things by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

Last edited by timtak; 12-15-21 at 01:09 AM.
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Old 02-08-22, 09:52 PM
  #137  
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The repair to end all bike repairs!

I have tended to feel it is time to get a new bike when my Shimano Ultegra/105 STI shift levers stop clicking into gears. I have asked on these forums if levers can be repaired only to be advised to get some new levers. In any event, I don't think the levers be taken apart for repair. They cost about 300USD a pair. Second hand ones are neither cheap nor inspire confidence (why were they removed, one wonders). And second hand low mileage bikes can be had from around 5-600 USD (like my current bike) so when the shifters go, I started looking for second hand bike bargains.

But, thanks to this video, I realised that the shifter problem is just a matter of old stiff grease.
Spraying deep into the shifters with brake cleaner, light oil, and PTFE lubricant gets then clicking again. I may get some PTFE grease as the video recommends, but Super Kure 5-56 seems to work.

New Bike by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
As the video above says, there are levers on ebay and the like that are not shifting and sold really cheaply. I think that some of them, or many of them, may be repaired by de-greasing.


I have put a set of fairings on another bike but then broke the fairings and the lever tops

Broken Fairing by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
when I crashed (a rail at the edge of a bridge that runs parallel to the direction of travel -- I bet lots of people are coming off there). I bought new fairings,

Crash Repair by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
and will repair the top of the lever with some carbon fiber epoxy and filler.

I also got some light holders to use on the same bike in silicone rubber because I find that they are easier to shift between dipped to main beam so that I can dazzle cars that dazzle me.

Light Holders by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
And I mended the crotch of some cycling pants with bits of red sweatshirt material.

Cycling Pants Crotch Patched by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
But my best cycling related repair is that I seem to have mended my hips and knees with rotational exercise, as previously mentioned but with new graphic below.

Eternal Louth: Straw Legs by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

Last edited by timtak; 02-08-22 at 10:18 PM. Reason: Add more repairs. Add there are cheap levers to be had
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Old 02-09-22, 09:25 AM
  #138  
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Originally Posted by timtak
I had a bike shop replace my front derailleur wire. There are two types of bike shop in Japan. Those that service shoppers and those that cater to road bikers. The former are very cheap, the latter very expensive. The gear wire (inner and outer) replacement was 15USD including wire. I want to go and give them a present.

The wire replacement required the removal of my bar tape and 'drop tube' (my name for road bike handlebar padding) which split when being pushed back on. I used some more Chinese bar grip covers from aliexpress at less than 1 USD again to replace it. I will get another two more grips for symmetry.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2Pc-...311.0.0.lriDr7

Drop Tube Replaced with Chinese Grips by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
I just don't know how I managed to cycle 10 years without padding my handlebars. I got the idea because my local road-bike-related bike shop charged me 16USD for some paper thin bar tape.

I still have not sourced some padding for the hoods. The yellow grips are a bit too smooth. The stripey red ones above are a bit too short (10.5cm - I need 13cm)
Sweet!
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Old 02-09-22, 02:27 PM
  #139  
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Originally Posted by Outrider1
Sweet!
This is an updated link for the foam bar grips on the drops.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32826732844.html
And this is the floor mat that I still use on the tops. I don't find it that smooth any more, just comfortable. It is 1cm thick.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000984482730.html
Since it is held in place with cable ties it is really easy to remove and put back on, or replace.

I am not sure why everyone doesn't use really thick bar tape. Wind resistance perhaps.


These days I use a short stem because my saddle is so far back (rear of saddle above rear of cassette) so that I can use my glutes. I push forwards over the top of the pedal stroke (this creates a strange sensation because pushing my pedal forward propels me forward, when it feels like I should be pushing myself backwards!) and then as my feet loose their ability to push forward, instead of attempting to push down, I then sort of hook my knee and pull back with my glutes making the whole motion like cracking a whip -- push out, pull in -- formed of horizontal as opposed to vertical (push) movements. "Pedal whipping" does not make me go faster yet anyway -- about the same speed as using just my quads to push all the time -- but it uses my glute muscles, which is important as I get old. It was by changing to pedal whipping, as well as by the rotational exercises, that I was able to repair my glutes.

Pedal Whipping by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

It feels really weird still to me but perhaps this how road bike cyclists have always pedalled! This pushing and pulling technique fits in with the advice given by Greg LeMond ‘Act like you’re scraping mud off the bottom of your shoe," but it has fallen out of favour, see e.g. this article
https://evelo.com/blogs/learn/the-pe...natural-stroke
I don't do it to be efficient or to go fast but to repair and maintain my glutes.

Last edited by timtak; 02-09-22 at 08:53 PM. Reason: To point out the pedal style is a type of repair and upload and mention Greg an image
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Old 03-15-22, 12:32 AM
  #140  
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5-arm crank, retaining bar ends, wax, and clean cable guides

Lately I have replaced my 4-arm Shimano cranks with old 5-arm ones because I don't need the light, stiff, miracle of technology that 4-arm cranks represent and the chainrings made out of plates of metal that are more readily available for 130mm BCD crank spiders are so much cheaper (further cranky details on the photo page below).

Back to Old Style Hollowtech by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
Since changing back to 5-arm cranks and using some old chainrings, I realise how old chainrings are almost just like sheets of aluminum whereas modern 4-arm chainrings have been milled in all sorts of ways to make the teeth sort of sharp (partly worn!) to enable the user to change front gear in mid (hill top finish?) sprint. This is useless to me. Plain chainrings will last longer and give a more locked in feeling. The only drawback is having to ease off the power for about a quarter of a rotation while the gears change, which is for me not a drawback at all.

I can get 53-39 chainrings for 20USD a pair.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002808284834.html

In addition to the old 5-arm hollow-tech 2 cranks that I possess, I see that Chinese companies such as Prolite make cheap 5 arm 130BCD. I bought one for about 20USD second hand.The axle is aluminum, which may alarm some, but I think it will be okay. I will be dead fairly soon anyway (only because I am 56).

I replaced the bearings in my Shimano 600 headset using the 3.969 bearings here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003238565594.html
changed my bar foam top and bottom again, and put retaining caps on the ends of my handlebars to keep the straight bar grips in place.

New Bar Grips in the Drops and New Caps too by Timothy Takemoto, on FlickrGrips
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002878084354.html
Handlebar end caps
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003914226183.html
I think that any bottle cap will do for retainers and the diameter will depend on the diameter of your handlebars.
I also tried ptfe based chain lube (Japanese Wakos and Raykish), and waxing my chain.

Chain Waxing by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

I am not sure what I will keep using but I am getting less keen on mess I make with liberal use of light oil.

Also, some good news!

Clean Cable Guide! by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
I was about to change my rear derailleur cable outer, because I was having problems shifting up rear gears (only being able to shift two gears at a time) and I had been told by at least one bike shop that this was often a sign of the gear change cable outer been dirty and or worn. I had rear cable outers replaced more than once for this reason.

Yesterday I decided to attempt to do it myself, before realising I could not find the cable outer I had recently purchased. So I made do with cleaning the rear cable outer nearest the derailleur. The cable outer seemed pretty clean. Very little brown came out when I squirted brake cleaner through it. But then I realised that my cable guide (shown above) was really gummed up with "crud". Being nearest to the road and in an area where chain oil can get to, the small enclosed part of the guide had become stuck up with crud (a paste of fine dirt and oil). Since I had my cable unattached to the rear derailleur it was very easy to clean, but I think It would not be difficult even with the cable in place just by squirting some brake cleaner along the cable.

Reassembling I find that my gears shift perfectly in both directions. I wonder how many times I have purchased new cable outer when all I needed to do was to clean this cable guide.

So, for smooth gear changing in the up direction (which relies on the spring in the rear derailleur rather than the force on the gear change lever) please try cleaning the cable guide on the underside of your bottom bracket. Durr. I guess most folks know that here. More good cable guide threads one and two.

More good news -- I will never have a wobbly bottom bracket again

Ztto BBs take 6805RS Bearings by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
While Shimano bottom bracket (≈$14) are stamped with "Do not disassemble" and are difficult or impossible to disassemble, and take non standard bearings, I am told (I never managed to take one apart), Ztto bottom brackets (also ≈$14) take standard 6805 (25 x 37 x 7mm) bearings which can be purchased for less than 1 USD a piece. The covers can be removed with a screwdriver and the bearings can be removed by bashing them with a hole punch from the rear.

Ztto Bottom Brackets
https://ja.aliexpress.com/item/32827102805.html
6805RS bearings
https://ja.aliexpress.com/item/4000032035150.html
I don't know if these below are any good, but if I am going to be replacing the bearings then I don't think the housing makes all that much difference assuming (as I think likely) that they can be taken apart too.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33028801685.html
The significance of the Ztto bearings was only that it was on a Ztto listing that another reviewer mentioned that they could be taken apart. That reviewer said that they were going to use some high quality bearings. My guess is that the only noticeable difference will be longevity which at less than a dollar a bearing is not all that important to me.

Last edited by timtak; 03-17-22 at 05:48 PM. Reason: Cable Guides Bottom Brackets and non Ztto ones too
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Old 03-29-22, 06:23 PM
  #141  
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I over torqued my seatpost, used massive rear offset, and was blasting away with my glutes at about 40kmh when crack, I broke my seatpost and an expensive Ergopost too (but I had already damaged it when I was still into forward offset). Until the new (cheap Chinese) post arrives I have pushed three pieces of household rail steel tube up inside the post, one inside the other. I hope that they don't bend, and that I don't crack my frame. It only has to last out to the end of today.

Cracked Seatpost Repair Attempt by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
On the other hand, if I had some strong carbon or steel tubing that was just the right diameter (2cm?) then it could perhaps be a permanent fix!
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Old 04-06-22, 06:12 PM
  #142  
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I purchased a cheap non-brand Chinese carbon post via a supplier in Japan because I was in a rush (but the same looking post can be purchase on aliexpress for about 25 USD) with not quite as much rear offset as the Ergopost it replaced, so I have offset my saddle rails further into the danger zone. This seatpost was 25.4mm (one inch) but the Ergopost and the French Look 386 bike is 25mm so I ground down the outer layer of lacquer on the new post, using a sanding disks on my grinder, to get the greased up new post into the seat tube hole. Will the saddle or post break? It seems okay so far, touch carbon. On the plus side, I hardly need to tighten the seatpost clamp at all.

New Carbon Seatpost Offset Max by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

Even with a solid steel rod in the broken seatpost my carbon frame damped road bumps but now it is back to being like floating on air.

Last edited by timtak; 04-07-22 at 05:27 AM.
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Old 04-10-22, 09:22 PM
  #143  
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Replaced my rimtape as I somehow split it down the middle cause an annoying leak that would never quite go flat.
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Old 04-24-22, 11:55 PM
  #144  
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I replaced the retaining C-spring pawl spring in my freehub etc


Broken Freehub Pawl Spring by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
The c-spring or retaining pawl spring broke (above right) and my freehub (left) almost stopped free-spinning, making a sound like I was strangling a cat.

I tried to make a c spring (centre) but it was too thick (1mm as opposed to .8mm) and had little spring - being made out of simple steel wire - so I used a spring out of an old Fulcrum free hub, the rims of which were worn. My rear wheel doesn't have little springs under the pawls only the constriction of the C spring somehow turns the pawls outwards. Now with the Fulcrum spring it is working again fine though the hub is noisy, as it was from the day I started using it. That noise suggests to me that the spring may be under a lot of load, and though I free wheel little I guess the spring may break again so I have asked the wheel/hub manufacturer to send a spare or two.If they refuse I will say who they are. Perhaps I should anyway.

The c-springs can be purchased cheaply from aliexpress but for 20 years of cycling this is the first time that I have required one.

While changing the freehub pawl spring I realised that my smaller cassette cogs are wearing out so I bought the smallest three 11t, 12t, and 13t for about 8USD from aliexpress. They are selling the smallest cogs for 8 to 12 speed cassettes and i think it is generally these that wear out first (especially if you are a compact crank user).
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003410162811.html
The larger cogs are also available e.g. from this seller but this seller charges shippping (need to shop around)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000688979810.html

I also noticed that one of the plastic spacers in my cassette (purchased second hand, possibly from a local keirin facility) was toothless and very slightly thicker than the others (perhaps from a 10 speed cassette -- I am using 11 speed) so I replaced that with an 11 speed toothed-spacer that I happened to have, which may cure my top gear slipping problems!

Or perhaps all 11 speed cassettes contain one toothless plastic spacer ring? I have never noticed one before.

Addendum: I think it just needed grease
After replacing the spring and adding some ptfe and grease and doing a little bit of riding the noise from the freehub became quite quiet. I think that the problem and the reason for the failure was simply that the person who assembled it did not use enough, or any, grease. This is what it looked like initially, with about as much oil on it as a dirty chain.

One of the pawls had fallen off into the freehub.
by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
The Fulcrum freehub, at the end of its life (after the rims had word down) still had plenty of grease inside the freehub.

Last edited by timtak; 04-25-22 at 10:08 PM. Reason: wondering if toothless spacers are normal and add link to c-spring shop
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Old 05-09-22, 11:00 PM
  #145  
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The wheel manufacturer says that they will send me a new freehub. It has not arrived yet.

I broke my seat post again. The post is an unbranded one and my rear offset and seatpost height is so great I am not surprised. I heard a crack, and now it creaks. I have lowered the seat post, and put a steel tube inside it.

I have ordered the same seat post, and a carbon tube the same diameter as the internal diameter of the seatpost so that I can strengthen it. I may not need it if I get used to this lower saddle height.

At the same time I adjusted the angle of my saddle and destroyed the thread of the cylindrical aluminium barrel nut. These nuts are common in furniture, at least made out of steel, and can probably be purchased in local hardware stores, and online e.g. in titanium or here but I did not have one so I made one out of an ordinary nut and cleat washer ground down to make it narrower to go in the hole. I don't think I will purchase a new nut for my old post.

Home made Barrel Nut for my Seatpost by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

I am gradually putting (5800) parts back on my first road bike, my Azzuri Primo, including a modern version of a quill stem, a riser stem flipped, though much shorter than I used to use.

From the Ashes by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

The "riser" stem was purchased here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002003023778.html

Last edited by timtak; 05-09-22 at 11:18 PM. Reason: link to store
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Old 05-11-22, 05:27 AM
  #146  
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I have always had problems with my front brake on my main (look KG 386) bike. I was able to buy the bike because the previous owner could not work out how to affix the rear brake, thinking that the rear brake attachment point was broken. The problem was the length of the cylindrical brake nut.



The brake attachment bolts (which can't be changed, without using a grinder or drill) and the nuts come in a variety of sizes. If you don't have the right combination of brake bolt and nut, you can't fix the brake to the frame (if the nut bolt combination is too short) or the brake wobbles and bites suddenly if too long.

There are nuts of the following lengths on aliexpress in
Steel
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003923228414.htm
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004060603067.html
and titanium
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000516101084.html

13MM: Rod length 9.5mm
15MM: Rod length 11.5mm
17MM: Rod length 13.5mm
23MM: Rod length 20mm
25MM: Rod length 21.5mm
33MM: Rod length 29.5mm

I tried to make my own brake bolt nut from a mountain bike brake pad bolt ground down to fit in the hole (the shortest nut at the bottom on on the right) but it came loose.

Fortunately my broken framed FELT bike had a nut of the right (short) size but I am attempting to mend the FELT frame with a carbon patch, so I will order a replacement nut.

Or, I may try changing the bolts on the brakes
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003845504183.html

I also found that there were little pivot bearings inside the brakes that were very stiff and grease-less. I lubricated them.

Last edited by timtak; 05-12-22 at 05:37 AM. Reason: minor minor
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Old 05-11-22, 05:41 AM
  #147  
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New brake pads after 10 years. The screeching was getting bad. The stopping wasn't that great either.
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Old 05-30-22, 01:54 AM
  #148  
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I replaced the three smallest cogs on my cassette. I find that I wear out the cogs from the small ones up. They were really really worn but I was only having issues with the smallest (11 cog) under high power.


Wow they were worn out.

These are the new ones

Shimano cogs are offset in a nice regular spiral like this (not my photo -- an official shimano photo)


Shimano cogs have a pleasant spiral offset

These cogs however were spiraling in the opposite direction or at random

Really weird offset


But the fact that the offset of the new Sunshine cogs is really un-pretty does not seem to affect gear change as far as I can tell. I thought that the fact that the teeth were not aligned in a nicer pretty spiral might make a difference to the shifting but they shift perfectly. It is enough to make me think that Shimano aligns their cogs in a pretty spiral for looks, whereas this company has chosen a stranger pattern for quicker shifting! I can't say that the shifting si quicker but I can't detect any shifting issues at all. One other thing that is different is that like the 11 and 12 cogs (Shimano and this company) the 13 cog has a metal spacer attached to it meaning that one Shimano plastic spacer is not needed. I strongly recommend this product.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...21ef585aK0d6i3

I also changed the front gear, the chain ring from an old Biopace from the 1990s (?) to an oval one from China. I did not particularly want another Oval chain ring but they were the cheapest approx. 53 teeth (in fact 54) chainrings that I could see on aliexpress and they are compatible with both 110 (4 arm 'Hollowtech 3') and 130 (5 arm Hollowtech 2) BCD cranks at only 14.25 USD. I had to change the heightt of my front derailleur a little, which is always tricky for me but now that I managed it, I am going to order another. I recommend this product too
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...6ed22e0ePZxR8K

Oval by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

I lost one of my bar end caps partly because I am using it to hold my super-thick standard handlebar foam grips on my drops. The caps would not fall off it I were using bar tape, which I hate. I need to think fo a way to keep my caps from falling out. The caps themselves are fine too
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...21ef585aK0d6i3

Asymmetrical by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

I also purchased a higher wattage, 80 watt soldering iron
80 watts by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr
to put solder on my gear cable and changed the rear part of the outer just before the derailleur.

Yellow Gear Cable by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr (I also waxed and changed my chain)

Shimano gear cables and brake cables come with solder on their ends to make for smooth insertion and routing. But after they have been cut it is very difficult to re-route the same cable because the ends tend to fray.
I can think of three methods of stopping the wires from fraying:
1) Use a soldering iron to put solder back on the wire at its end. This was very difficult even with my 80 watt iron.
2) Use super glue on the ends of the wires. I have tried this and found it stops the cables from fraying but it has made the cables a little thicker and, though I have not tried, I think it will make them more difficult to route. I don't think it will work but I am not sure.
3) Use the method promoted by GCN in a recent video, which I can't find, using an angle grinder to cut and weld the end of the wire together with the heat of the grind. I was scared to use this method since the wire was not long and I did not want to cut it.

I think that solder is the way forward, since as well as preventing fraying it will make the end a little smoother, but I still don't have the watts. How many watts are needed?

The gear and brake wire packs too are cheap and great
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...21ef585aK0d6i3

Last edited by timtak; 05-30-22 at 02:01 AM.
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Old 05-30-22, 01:03 PM
  #149  
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dip the cut end in some epoxy resin & let it drip off the excess. It typically works for those stubborn cables.
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Old 06-01-22, 12:51 AM
  #150  
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The original brake bolt (top right) that came fitted to the 105 brake was far to short for my carbon frame. I may have been able to use an extra long brake nut but decided to change the bolt instead. Shimano bolts have a shallow head. I am not sure of the need for shallow headed bolts. I drilled off the burrs keeping the Shimano bolt in using a 6mm drill at a bit of an angle as a sort of rotary grinder. The head of my replacement, ordinary, hardware store bolt sticks out a bit in the gap between the calipers but, due to the presence of the spring, there is lots of space and the bolt head is a tight fit (I had to bang it in with a hammer due to the remains of the burrs that had kept the Shimano bolt in) so it is unlikely to come out even if the brake nut should come loose.

Four stainless steel bolts (and nuts and washers) were a dollar and fifty cents or so.

Brake Bolt Replacement by Timothy Takemoto, on Flickr

Last edited by timtak; 06-02-22 at 09:21 PM. Reason: wording
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