Things which work...and carry on working

[2manyoranges]

When the Grom pulled out the Klein road bike and said 'can we do some miles on this?..' I looked at what we had in the workshop and sighed. He would not want me alongside on a balloon tyred Cannondale or buzzing enduro bike. Then I remembered the silver C16R - which had studded snow tyres on it. Never mind, narrow Fir and Mavic rims, so would take the Schwalbe Durango 1 inch slicks. So they went on and off we went. Couldn't get onto the third ring (the pillar ratchet glued with old grease in the shifter - the usual issue with STX etc) and felt a wee bit of play in the headset. Anyway no time so off and away.

Arriving back after an excellent 30k loop, I decided to adjust the headset. And then thought - hang on, I fitted this in 1999 and have NEVER serviced it. Outside my flat in Brighton, I had installed a 1 inch DIaCompe Aheadset headset - the first gen - and then that was it. Thousands of miles ago. I think using a Headsock on the lower race helped a lot - stopped anything getting in there. And when I took everything to bits and degreased it, the surfaces were perfect. It's just been there, doing its job. I remember the first decade of mountain-biking...headsets were a complete pain. Almost impossible to find something of decent longevity. Mavic worked, but with that huge stack height you almost always needed to have a new steerer or forks. And the Dia Come just looks so weeny alongside a new enduro headset. See below.

But it's been fantastic. Just sucked everything up. So it was out with the races, a good squirty clean, then in with FinishLine and all back together....good for another 20 years?

 

[hamster]

Sounds like the 1" Tioga Master headset I put on my tourer in 1993. Fitted, greased in 2002 and again a couple of years ago, otherwise ignored.

 

[Tayside]

I keep waiting for my XT 9 speed mechs and shifters to die so that I can upgrade.
Ain't happening ;-)

 

[Takingabreak]

shimano sealed square taper bottom brackets

 

[2manyoranges]

On xt.....The STX on the silver C16R above had worked flawlessly for 20 years and many many miles, still original chainrings, cassette and on second chain. The reason (as I put in another thread) is (i) cycling on the South Downs, where the chalk dust seems to lubricate rather than wear things when it's dry, and is like a mild paste when wet. Unlike the horror of the millstone grit in the North, or the granite dust of the South West, which tears everything to bits in hours....and of course (ii) maintenance. Not shirking on it. hand washing after a muddy ride, or wiping down after a dusty one, lubing with the right stuff, and servicing drive chain when it needs it, not a week later.

But the LH shifter was playing up of the first time ever, at the weekend, so I stripped it and yes, it was the small pillar ratchet. All good, just blast with GT85 and then add light grease. Until....ping....tinkle tinkle roll roll roll clunk. Somewhere in the workshop. There goes the special washer between the top plate and the lower mechanism. Find it I could not. So I went through the washer and bits box and found an old French stainless chainring bolt which was exactly the right internal and external dimension, but too tall. Careful filing for 20 mins, then straight in, tighten, and perfect operation. Lovely jubbly. Clikety click.

On...Shimano BBs...UN92s, 72s and 52s......I think that they just run and run.....

 

[jimo746]

shimano sealed square taper bottom brackets

The good ones probably outlast a lot of bikes!
The newer and cheaper ones still last a few years though.
They still take some beating tbh.

 

[mdvineng]

Mavic bottom brackets, hubs up to 531.

 

[troje]

M650 hubs. Deore thumbies. M900 headsets. PD-M525 and 737. And yes, surely the UN91, UN71 and even the UN51 bottom brackets. All bullet proof. I am such a Shimano fan.

 

[2manyoranges]

Re:

And really good for the planet....reuse reuse and use again....

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

200GS crank arms.
Come in handy as a hammer too.