NEW! RetroBike Tip of the Month!!!

jez-4-bikes-max

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Thought this would be a new feature -

We can all post retrobike maintenance/riding/restoration/polishing/training tips here and the winner gets a special something I will find in my treasure trove at Hammond Towers. This will be a monthly section.

If you submit your tips here we can do a poll like BOM.
 
Ooh, this is a good idea. I have a little trick that I use for fitting headsets - I don't know if it's retro but it works for me. In a nutshell, if you are fitting alloy headset cups, take out the bearings, seals etc and put the empty cups in the freezer for half an hour or so. When you take them out they will have shrunk a bit because aluminium responds to cold by contracting and so should be easier to fit into the head tube. If you are lucky they will go straight in and then expand to fit tightly as they warm up but you may need to rest the headtube on a block of wood and "persuade" the cups in with a rubber mallet. Obviously the final decision to use this technique rests with you - if the headset cups are really oversized then you should still use a headset press. Basically you should use your common sense to avoid damaging the cups.
 
A good one...

Heres one from me:

If you run out of end ferrules on a build and hate to see your cables fraying - just use a blob of superglue or Araldyte epoxy resin on the ends. It seals the cable and looks neat too.
 
I got one for your Manitou 1 and 2 forks. When trying to put the stanchions back in and getting the bottom bush located, its much easier to get a length of M6 studding, screw it into the tapped hole at the base of the fork, then slide the elastomers, washers and bush down into position. Then put the stanchion in and carefully remove the studding and insert the correct bolt. Much easier than faffing around trying to keep the elastomers on the bolt and trying to get the bottom bush past the top one.
 
tinkerer":105f7ywr said:
if you are fitting alloy headset cups, take out the bearings, seals etc and put the empty cups in the freezer for half an hour or so. When you take them out they will have shrunk a bit because aluminium responds to cold by contracting and so should be easier to fit into the head tube.

I'm not an engineer but isn't this dangerous? Could it not cause the alloy to fail? Sure somebody will know.

Sounds like a top idea to me though - I hate fitting headsets!
 
I am no engineer either but if anything it is a gentler way of fitting the headet cups because they don't have to squished into position by the extreme force of the headset press, but they almost just slot (depending upon the headtube fit) in then minutely expand to become tight.
 
Chilling and hot dropping ali to steel parts is common practice. Will be fine in this temp range.

Top tip - remember to take your sq taper cranks and bb off before the wheels and breaks on a strip down - makes seized/stiff parts much easier with a big foot.

Top tip 2: Use a bent spoke for dustcap and self extracting crankbolt washers

Like your idea jez- i tried solder, but hard with oil and grease around with todays fluxes
 
I suppose the old "hairspray on the grips" is something everyone does ? :oops: Told my boss the other day and he was well chuffed after blistering his hands fitting new ones......
 
My tip for getting grips on and off:

On: dip the grips in a cup of water and they slide on nice and easy. Maybe slap a bit of water on the handlebars too.

Off: gently ease a screwdriver down inside the grip with the handlebars on the tilt (a wooden lollypop stick may be better as less likely to scratch handlebars) and pour water down the gap behind the screwdriver. Start gently twisting the grips then remove the 'driver and keep twisting. The water will work its way down and before you know it the grip is off.

:D
 
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