Show us what you did today, thread

Jamiedyer · Oct 22, 2024

Brian, Caleb and I braved the wind and the rain on Saturday to head out to Aultbea for a ride to the Arctic Convoy Museum for Calebs Wester Ross shakedown ride.
A suitable homecoming as we were also visiting the Arctic Convoy museum where, in the same building, Calebs Wester Ross was built back in 1982. Fitting as well as we had planned to visit the museum a long while back as his great grandfather took part in many of the convoys on two different ships.
We headed down and picked up Brian very early and then headed in from the north. We had some rain as forecast but for the few hours ride and also visiting the museum we were very lucky and even had a bit of sunshine.
The Wester Ross rode superb and is such a really nice riding bike. Caleb was well pleased and more than happy to ride it back where it was built.
We had some late lunch at a local B&B and soon as we left and got just a little way north the skies opened once again.
So all in all we were lucky with the weather, managed a short but lovely ride and generally had a great day out.
Thanks to Brian for once again joining us, always great fun.

Jamie

Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

jonthefish · Nov 16, 2024

Trundle down Rhu Arisaig to briefly escape work. Always worth it.

Piotr · Dec 5, 2024

I've been making a new set of retro wheels this morning
Hubs Formula machine bearings
Spokes Dt 2/1.8
Nipples Dt alu
Rims Weinmann 519 model 519

Piotr · Dec 5, 2024

J Did it all the way

bikeworkshop · Dec 5, 2024

Lovely wheels. And the alloy nipples will be ok if you remember to change them every 2 years

Piotr · Dec 5, 2024

I understand your concerns.
There is no need for this, the threads are properly secured if the bike is used under normal conditions
For extreme conditions and hard rides, I often use brass nipples
if the spoke length is selected correctly, they do not negatively load the nipples
I have been making wheels professionally for over 12 years as you can see on the blog.......

ajm · Saturday at 20:47

Was determined to get out on the bike today regardless of the weather forecast... it was certainly quite gloomy out and breezy but had stopped raining by the time I was ready. Ended up riding past the junction I had planned to turn off at, then randomly decided to head down a track I had driven down once or twice in my old IIA 25 years ago. Said track had changed quite a bit and somehow I found myself heading in a different direction than I thought it was going to take me... no matter, I had plenty of time for once and knew approximately where I was headed.

At another "junction" I opted for the less-travelled looking branch and was enjoying the ride when suddenly forward progress ceased. Slightly confused, I looked down and noticed half my chain appeared to be missing... oops. Time to have a rummage in the (new last year, much smaller than previous one) saddle bag and see if there was anything more than tyre levers in it. First thing that came to hand was my trusty old Nexus chain tool, what a relief! Until, that is, I realised that the hardened pin was somehow missing, rendering the whole thing totally useless. Hum. What now? I briefly pondered just walking on to see where the track ended up, but I'm not a fan of walking... it just takes so long to get anywhere and the "puddles" in the track were all at least 6" deep - fun on a bike, not much fun on foot, particularly wearing shoes with bolt holes in the soles...

Without any better ideas, I rummaged further in the saddlebag and to my amazement (not to mention relief) I found a compact chain tool I don't remember owning... the kind that requires a biggish Allen key to turn it. Happily my 30 year old Cannondale-branded multi-tool even had the correct size key on it. Suddenly feeling almost optimistic, I turned back to the bike to ponder the whereabouts of most of my chain - this turned out to be more comprehensively wrapped around the chainset than I would have thought possible - the links were forced so tightly past each other it looked like some kind of Christmas cracker puzzle or M.C. Escher drawing! With sufficient force and probably removing several grams of aluminium from the right hand chainstay in the process, I was able to undo the puzzle and return the chain to its former path (if somewhat shorter than before.)

The ride home was into the wind and spinning rather gingerly in comparison to my normal riding style but it was somehow satisfying to have been able to effect a repair when it looked as though I might have had to walk home for the first time ever. The whole episode was entirely my own fault - the same chain had snapped on me about two years previously which was also probably the last time I had cleaned the bike... (I really, really hate cleaning bikes) - upon checking the toolbox later I found I had even bought a replacement chain and cassette, just not got round to fitting them. I cleaned the bike in the afternoon (at least, you can now see that there are no teeth on the jockey wheels and the front derailleur is actually made up of multiple components and isn't a single lump)... who knows, I might even get round to replacing the chain/cassette/jockey wheels/middle chainring in the holidays...

Anyway, it was great to get out and off the tarmac again, and the rain kindly held off until I was just home.

Grey but fresh...