2008 Giant Halfway (folding bike)

Today was a bit itty bitty as I hurt my back, and so took it wasy

Decided Id had enough of looking at those manky grips, so a quick scrub with a nail brush and some coal tar soap took it from this


to this with instant visual gratification


Then because Im impatient and couldnt wait I put the rear rack mounting arm and rear rack of to see if it would look as good as I expected it to...

And I wasnt disappointed, Ive no idea why Giant never did this themselves.


After that it was tear it all down get the wheels, brakes and cables off to finish removing the last of the film to degrease and wash it.


I had to use a green scotchbright and petrol to get the tarry thick oil/ grease mix off the rear stay.
After this I washed the sticky residue of the stickers away with petrol and degreased it, but it will be degreased again before I wash it as I think it could have been better.

Uncle Geoff sent the brake shoes but in true style of them they sent 2 different sizes

Errr, check they aren't different on the bike before you return them. Front brake is normally narrower than rear.

novocaine said:

Errr, check they aren't different on the bike before you return them. Front brake is normally narrower than rear.

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Great advice Dave thanks for that, much appreciated

Started putting on the new Schwalbe Big Apples with tyre liners and slime tubes because Im a belt and braces kinda muppet
I have to say getting those Marathons off was a right chore and they seemed perfectly happy to stay on the bike

Those Big Apples fill the mudguards real nicely too.



They are also a tiny bit taller when you see them next to the narrower Marathons


I always liked to use Panaracer Kevlar on my bikes but they are unobtainable these days (Yes I know the big apples already has it built in)

Scott-S said:

Great advice Dave thanks for that, much appreciated

Started putting on the new Schwalbe Big Apples with tyre liners and slime tubes because Im a belt and braces kinda muppet
I have to say getting those Marathons off was a right chore and they seemed perfectly happy to stay on the bike

Those Big Apples fill the mudguards real nicely too.
View attachment 957539
View attachment 957540

They are also a tiny bit taller when you see them next to the narrower Marathons
View attachment 957541

I always liked to use Panaracer Kevlar on my bikes but they are unobtainable these days (Yes I know the big apples already has it built in)
View attachment 957542

Click to expand...

Quality tyres pumped up right is usually all you need @Scott

Slime can clog the valve, requiring its replacement.
Had one in today on a spesh hardluck - didn't have a puncture, but needed the tube replacing sssssss

Given you dont even need to take the wheels off to swap a tube, you should be relishing every opportunity to fix a puncture - maybe even make it a performance

Doing a great job, it's going to look great and be massively usable