Handy maintenance tips - Old school (and not so old)

[Tebbybabes]

Awesome read so far! Keem em coming.

[ColinOldnCranky]

For my leather saddle I kept a plastic coles shopping bag under the saddle (attached with a lack band). Put it on the saddle with the lacky band when parking. Keeps it from drying out too fast in summer and keeps it dry in winter. Less need to oil it and less dust accumulation.

The bag is cheap and effective. And you don't have to pay for some inflated branding.

[il padrone]

If you're worried about the cost of a brand-name Brooks saddle cover.... $2.00 for a shower cap from Coles - elastic band built in and pretty much the right size to fit over the saddle .

[JustJames]

Re-usable links are sometimes reluctant to come apart. To persuade them, tighten a length of galvanised wire around the two rollers to pull them together.

[jasonc]

For my leather saddle I kept a plastic coles shopping bag under the saddle (attached with a lack band). Put it on the saddle with the lacky band when parking. Keeps it from drying out too fast in summer and keeps it dry in winter. Less need to oil it and less dust accumulation.

The bag is cheap and effective. And you don't have to pay for some inflated branding.

get a shower cap instead - they're elastic.

[barefoot]

Seating a headset's crown race firmly on the fork without damage requires a special headset crown race installing tool.

My special headset crown race installing tool was originally sold as an plumbing fitting. It must have come into my possession for a long-forgotten project that never eventuated. It's made of that heavy black plastic that threaded ag pipe fittings are made of (polyethylene?). I think it's intended to reduce the outlet size of a water tank. It has a 1 1/4" ("32mm") female thread through the middle, and a 3" male thread on the outside.

When installing a crown race, I generally use the fitting as a slide hammer to push the race evenly down into position, then tap around the edge of the fitting with a hammer to seat it. The 1 1/4" thread fits neatly over a 1 1/8" steerer tube and crown race, and the plastic is softer than any metal so can't do any damage to the crown race. But it's tough, so whacking the thick edge of the 3" thread with a hammer doesn't bother it... and it's far enough away from the steerer that I'm not worried about damaging valuable bike bits by accidentally whacking them.

Would have cost a couple of dollars at Bunnings. That has to be cheaper than a genuine Park Tools crown race seating tool

tim

[il padrone]

Good idea for headset race installation - probably better than the hammer and two planks that I've used for many frames




Crown race goes on with judicious use of a hammer and cold chisel - tap, tap, tap on alternate points of the compass.

[barefoot]

Good idea for headset race installation - probably better than the hammer and two planks that I've used for many frames

I use the hybrid method - a long bolt, a couple of washers and two planks

The planks (actually ~300mm long offcuts of 3x1 pine) were initially used because I didn't have big enough washers to fit the headset cups, but they've proven useful as levers. If the cup is going slightly off-course and skewing a bit, I can twist my lever/plank around to the right direction and push/pull appropriately to straighten the cup.

Crown race goes on with judicious use of a hammer and cold chisel - tap, tap, tap on alternate points of the compass.

That works quite well with modern cartridge headsets, where the crown race is really just for locating the bearing cartridge, but on old free-ball (or cage ball) headsets the crown race is a proper bearing surface, and I wouldn't reckon on putting a cold chisel anywhere near it.

On that subject... crown races for cartridge bearings... many are provided as split crown races, for easy installation and removal. The locating taper works just as well with a ~0.5mm gap in it - just like it does on the split ring at the upper race.

Others are provided as non-split. A non-split crown race can easily be converted to a split crown race by careful application of a hacksaw. Has zero effect on functionality, other than making it easier to install and remove.

The only caveat - some headsets (Cane Creek specifically) have a rubber seal built in to the crown race. That's a nice thing to have. I've heard of people carefully cutting the metal race and leaving the seal intact, but I'm not keen on that idea. I'll be whacking the crown race of my new Cane Creek headset onto the crown of my new fork with my plumbing fitting, without a split. And since it will have an intact seal, I expect the headset to last pretty much forever, and I should never need to remove the crown race from the fork.

tim

[il padrone]

Crown race goes on with judicious use of a hammer and cold chisel - tap, tap, tap on alternate points of the compass.

That works quite well with modern cartridge headsets, where the crown race is really just for locating the bearing cartridge, but on old free-ball (or cage ball) headsets the crown race is a proper bearing surface, and I wouldn't reckon on putting a cold chisel anywhere near it

Judicious I said. The cold chisel is angled in on the top ledge of the race - where the balls don't go. It works - done it many times with no damage resulting.

[Dan]

Good idea for headset race installation - probably better than the hammer and two planks that I've used for many frames




Crown race goes on with judicious use of a hammer and cold chisel - tap, tap, tap on alternate points of the compass.

This is my weapon of choice, too. Agree with the tap tap tap methodology - however I only seat it slightly, then insert fork, set bearings in place and use the tension of tightening the headset into place to seat the crown race fully.

[ldrcycles]

Crown race goes on with judicious use of a hammer and cold chisel - tap, tap, tap on alternate points of the compass.

That works quite well with modern cartridge headsets, where the crown race is really just for locating the bearing cartridge, but on old free-ball (or cage ball) headsets the crown race is a proper bearing surface, and I wouldn't reckon on putting a cold chisel anywhere near it

Judicious I said. The cold chisel is angled in on the top ledge of the race - where the balls don't go. It works - done it many times with no damage resulting.

Yep, i usually do the same, i've used a decent sized flat head screwdriver when i've been caught out.

[warthog1]

Aluminium steerer tubes can be cut, without pulling the forks out, with a plumbers pipe cutter. Just need to deburr the cut end with a file. Works a beaut.

[ldrcycles]

My LBS taught me years ago that installing handlebar grips is a lot easier when you squirt some hairspray into them. And then when it dries, it helps to stick them on. I've also used Lynx once when I had no hairspray handy, takes longer to dry and didn't hold it as well but it was a lot better than nothing.

[Saturnstarzz]

In winter I use 1 part rainex mixed in OPSM glasees cleaner . Shake spray and then wipe off.

[jbanh]

CT18 and Windex are handy to clean your chain and car

[find_bruce]

Aluminium steerer tubes can be cut, without pulling the forks out, with a plumbers pipe cutter. Just need to deburr the cut end with a file. Works a beaut.

Works just as well with a steel steerer tube - not much aluminium used for plumbing. You just need to take it slowly when winding the cutter in.

[barefoot]

I have used a pipe cutter on a few steerer tubes and MTB bars, but I find my pipe cutter flares the end of the tube slightly, which makes it difficult to fit stuff (headset bits, stems, shifter/brake levers, bar ends etc.) over the end.

There's probably contribution from a good dose of user error, and a very good dose of cheap crappy tool, but I've stopped using a pipe cutter and started using a hacksaw.

tim

[Nobody]

Wheel chock for front wheel. For those who don't want/need to use a stand but still don't want the bike moving around much when doing basic maintenance while leaning the bike against something. The idea here is to keep the tyre off the ground so the front wheel weight is on the chock. The inner dimensions of mine is 31 X 6cm which will do most road and MTB tyres. You can see the wear marks on the wood beside the measuring tape. I've been using this one for years.

[ldrcycles]

Just discovered a new one today, finished rebuilding a bike and needed to take pics to sell it but the whitewall tyres were really grubby. I was going to try soapy water and some Chux until I saw some Pine o Cleen disinfectant wipes in the kitchen. They did the job REALLY well, clean as a whistle.

[thomashouseman]

Just discovered a new one today, finished rebuilding a bike and needed to take pics to sell it but the whitewall tyres were really grubby. I was going to try soapy water and some Chux until I saw some Pine o Cleen disinfectant wipes in the kitchen. They did the job REALLY well, clean as a whistle.

Yes, they also work excellent on the white plasticy/rubber bits on converse shoes.

[Dan]

Pffffft forget all that brand name craziness. Regular baby wipes.

[Nobody]

Wheel chock for front wheel...The inner dimensions of mine is 31 X 6cm...

I forgot to mention and important measurement which is the block height at each end. In this case it is 45mm. Obviously block height will affect ideal inner length so you'll have to estimate from whatever wood you have to keep the tyre just off the ground.

Anyway, when I do need to do wheel work I use the trainer, with a car stand under the BB for the front wheel. I also find a peg and an old spoke are handy for truing and a tape measure for dishing. Of course none of this is new, but it might help someone to DIY in the future.

[munga]

a rubber band is handy for locking front brake when doing stuff too. stops the front wheel moving around so much.

[Dan]

Car stand = like.

[warthog1]

I have used a pipe cutter on a few steerer tubes and MTB bars, but I find my pipe cutter flares the end of the tube slightly, which makes it difficult to fit stuff (headset bits, stems, shifter/brake levers, bar ends etc.) over the end.

There's probably contribution from a good dose of user error, and a very good dose of cheap crappy tool, but I've stopped using a pipe cutter and started using a hacksaw.

tim

I haven't done it myself, but a bloke in my old club used a hacksaw on his carbon steerer. 2 stainless hose clamps, a hacksaw blade width apart, as a guide.