Be Excellent To Each Other

Get a blow lamp on it.

Tried fire but no blow lamp available.

Spent most of the afternoon battling it. Even put the spanner in the vice and tried to use the bike as a lever (failed).

My new torque wrench might do it if I can get a 30mm bit for it. Will have a look tomorrow.

Too tired for cycling today now so may resort to using Mrs Chinny's bike for a quick cycle tomorrow night!

This is costing a fortune! Parts, and tools!

Have you tried cocacola? It is acidic so might work.

I just got back from exploring woods. We found awesome singletrack and a lot of mud. Good fun hacking about ride.

Shave legs or keep wearing tights?
Road cycling brings its own set of problems.

In other news, my friend and I discovered that removing wheels from bikes makes loading them in the car easier.

Naw! Using it as a breaker is a quick way to knacker it. Tried sliding a cheater bar over your spanner/ratchet for more torque?*Frisbees "Save The Last Dance" away to fuck*

Ah ok, won't do that then. Cheers.

Will go to the car parts shop in the morning and will get a breaker bar.

60cm breaker bar acquired. Now lets see who is the boss!

ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!!!

The bloke at the shop has sold me the wrong socket. Its the right size but the wrong fitting. It has too many edges. I need a 5 edged one.

Have given up riding the bike now before the weekend and just ordered the right part on Amazon.

The SPD pedals aren't coming off either. Looking at them they are in a right state so for the sake of 20 quid I've ordered a new pair.

By the time I'm done the bike will pretty much have a new drivetrain!

As I will now be without bike until the weekend, if its nice one night this week would it be wrong if I took out Mrs Chinny's bike? It's of the female variety so not sure if people will look at me as if I'm odd/I've stolen it.

Should be fine. I would, and i'm super cool.

Back knack strikes. Need to harden up.

According to the GPS, the bike has done 8500 miles. No wonder everything has seized so tight!

Err, huh? You don't get 5 sided sockets, or nuts for that matter.. What's going on there?

Perhaps it was six sided? Too tired!

Wasn't it a crank tool or summin? I can only think of splined ones but maybe u get a weird sadistic 5 sided crank taper? Probably not.

If they had 5 sides you wouldn't be able to get a shifter on them, as the sides wouldn't be parallel!

But assuming it is a normal hex, it should fit a normal socket with 6 or 12 points. My bet is it's 2mm the wrong size

Tune in tomorrow for more mechanical mysteries.

Ah yes of course, all things must be doable with a shifter. FACT.

The one the shop sold me is a 30mm with 12 points on it. I assumed the fact it had 12 points was the problem not the size. Are we saying a 12 point socket should fit on a 6 point screw? If so your 32mm answer may be the right one. I'd been using an adjustable spanner set at its max range of 30mm which fitted fine so assumed a socket would also be 30mm.

Have now ordered a 32mm 6 point version!

Stretch more. Especially your hamstrings.

Ah yeah, 12 points is normal.

Better luck with 32mm!

Likely the cassette, but if you mainly use the middle ring on the crank that could need replacing as well. If you cycle a lot, you should really replace the chain every three months to cut down on cassette and crank ring wear.

@chinnyhill10

I'm a little unclear on what you're trying to remove, is it the crank or the bottom bracket? Can you post pictures?

The crank is one piece. I am replacing that.

However due to the milage I'm also doing the bottom bracket which is what I'm having trouble extracting at the mo.

Just been out on Mrs Chinny's bike. A combination of a ladies saddle, only 21 gears and not being setup to my liking means I now have a few aches and pains.

Also I have never seen as many cyclists out of an evening as today. Saw about 30. Had a few smart comments and smirks regarding my girls bike. I cursed MaliA each time!

I have been informed I am only allowed to have one more bike. I have decided the best course of action is to "retire" the full suspension bike and hang it on the wall in the dining room as an objet d'art and an example of folly. This means I can have two more bikes.

If overtime you replace all the parts of one bike with bits of another, then assemble the scrap bits into a usable bike, which is the original bike?

<giggles>

<mutters about 34/26 being lowest gear on road bike</mutters>
<mutters about 22/32 being lowest gear on </mutters>

Pantani used to wear designer sunglasses and diamond earring and throw them away before a big climb when racing.

I've had a look on Strava, and realsied that I really, really, really, suffer when the gradient is 1:5 or greater for short distances. The only way I can get around that is to harden the fuck up and ride some more. So, anyone out tonight? it is a bit cloudly and damp ehre, but I will attempt the loop I did on Saturday again, but avoid the dual carriageway. I am not expecting many record breaking times, though, as I'm not looking forward to it right now.

Yep, 32mm. Which Amazon sent in a box the size of Wales.



Even with the breaker it still seemed like a disproportionate amount of force that needed to be applied. Which is at least slightly reassuring that I wasn't just a wuss using normal tools. If it was hard with a breaker that size it was indeed impossible with a standard tool.

Mind & grease the threads before you put the new one in.

Lithium grease or some other kind?

This will be the last time this bike has a new drivetrain anyway. New bike next year I hope.

Lithium grease is fine.

All done! Everything new apart from the front and rear derailer. The front is original, the back was replaced 2 years ago. Also noticed the rear had quite alot of play in it and tightend up its retaining bolt so disaster averted there.

Shifting on the rear cogs is now excellent and there's no skipping on the front. Whole drivetrain feels like a new bike. Front gear shifter is still temperamental but I'm used to it (its been a bit odd since new).

Main thing is that I can take it for a ride this weekend.

Eeeeek!

That seems ill advised!

Jesus, yes, and I do not know where to start. Actually I do. Jeans. Fucking hell.

Yeah, if you are going to do something like that then a set of bike leathers would be a good place to start.

I'd wear shorts as I would not be intending to crash. none theless, the jersey is good, but mismatched wiht the bike. jeans are the wrong choice, as we both agree on, and I agree with you that leather trousers could be the way forward here.

Ben Lawers? my favourite dam, I've camped at the foot of it

I like that you have a favourite dam.

Aye, it's bonnie up there. Don't gie the secret away

Right: I have to attend a birthday party in Buxton (70s and 80s glam rock is the dreess code). Buxton is, by a route I have devised, 53 miles away from where I live. I think it is pretty feasible to get MrsA to drive there and I'll ride and meet her at her parents' house. There are a couple of problems with this idea, though.

Problem number one is "Can MaliA ride 50 miles?"

I did 31 last week, going up over the hills around Ilkley Moor (see Strava) and felt OK at the end of that. I think that if I take food with me I'll be OK, as I'm pretty poor at this "nutrional prep" stuff. Water is a concern, as I tend to drink loads of it, about a bottle every 90 minutes. I'm not sure what I can do about that, except take some cash and buy some along the way.

Problem 2 "Holme Moss"

Fuck me it's a big hill. Ever since I first drove over it, I've wanted to ride over it. I think it's worth a go, don't you?

i'm tempted to try. I can always get in a cab if it goes titsup. Like Millar.
Here's a rough elevation profile:

Good luck dude..

My boss did John O'Groats to Lands End a few yeas ago.

I'm doing a 24 hour relay round Silverstone in September as part of a team of 4. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Piece of piss. 'specially on your funny new bike.Chap doors or get shop/innkeepers to fill your bottle while you're buying sustenance.

Also, ye can get tenner camelbak style rucksacks fae The Tescos that hold 1.5l of water & have enough space for the essentials.


I'd quite like to ride round Silverstone... once. No sure I could stomach ~6 hours round the same mile wide track. Even SITS or the R24 don't massively appeal & I like that kind of dirty twisty tight stuff.

You doing it for charidee or just Teh LOLZ?

Took repaired bike out for its first proper run. I'm abit out of shape but after some fiddling with the gear cable tensions its running very well.

Ta. I've got a comeback style rucksack , but it destroys my imperious cool on the funny bike. I shall pop in to a pub and have abeer on the way up the fuck off great hill. Obliged. Will attempt 40 miles tomorrow after work.



Excellent!

When I do my long rides in the Summer I take a rucksack with some snacks and a isotonic sport drink in it. I may also put sport powder in the water bottle.

A couple of years back I was flagging badly and stopped at a bakers and had an iced bun which worked a treat.

You can also buy these horrible gel things to eat which do actually work when you are flagging towards the end.

Drink loads of booze, take loads of speed & do it in the proper TdF stylee

I was given boxes of those things last year. Keep meaning to stick them on ebay or something

Yon guy round the corner that makes funny bikes swears by marzipan.