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| Sick bicycle syndrome | |||||||||||||||||||||
| I
thought I'd share the maintenance pain of my mountain bike flock. I
ride every day (when I have a working bike) whatever the
weather so the bikes take a hammering. But they're really not up to it
- although some are better than others. My Orange bikes seem to have a
bit of thought put into them (no under bottom bracket cables; crud
catcher bosses) whereas some of the US designed bikes just don't seem
to 'do' rain or trad english mud at all. However they all suffer from
stupid design faults - usually - and most annoyingly - it will be some
poxy 20p bolt that corrodes in some
expensive-can't-get-it-off-without-using-a-chainsaw-and-an-axe way. You
may think maintaining a bike would be cheaper than maintaining a small
car but I think you'd be wrong. So here it is. Starting 25 March 2006. Contact me for help with Sick bicycle syndrome |
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| The
Bikes There are four bikes bikes, one of which has now been sold... Marin Mount Vision (MMV)
Orange Evo 4 (OE4)
Orange Crush (OC)
Orange Crush 650B (OC2)
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25 March 2006 OE4 - another broken spoke (rear wheel) after a month of broken spokes. Admittedly I've tried to fix these myself with not a lot of knowledge of such things. Now given up. I could get the wheel rebuilt but it's a nasty factory built thing with a cheapo rim so I'm going to cut my losses - ordered a new wheel from Chain Reaction - Mavic 317 Disc rim with an XT hub. Also stripped it down after the winter salt attack - put in a new Bottom Bracket (so one hour trip to Halfords and back) as the old one was very rusty and starting to do stuff to the frame (even though it's Alu). Chain and block actually look OK as I've been pretty good about cleaning these over the winter. Headset needs replacing as it just oozes rust juice everywhere. Need trip to bike shop for this. Also bought a new 9 speed chain for the Marin Mount Vision as it's been getting bad chain suck on the last few outings. 26 March 2006 MMV - put new chain on. Quick whizz round the block and it seems OK. Mothers day very much restricted the number of hours of bicycle maintenance today. Government - please take note and ban all further Mothering Sundays. 27 March 2006 MMV - set off for work on it but first hill had the chain skipping badly. Set off back home and swapped it for the ATM (Ancient Team Marin - an old bike which is no longer with us). Not ridden it for about a year. Fixed puncture on it first then set off for work (again). Awful - how I rode this for years and years I'll never know. Such a narrow cramped position. No disc brakes. On the plus side the skinny tyres means it moves pretty quick - but the hopeless V brakes put a damper on that. Came home. Ordered new 9 speed block for the MMV from eBay. Hope this fixes the skipping chain. Can't see it's the front cogs as they've not been on that long. Also ordered some new shorts from eBay for the summer season. I'm optimistic I can get some of my bikes working again before next winter. 28 March 2006 OE4 - new wheel arrived from Chain Reaction in record time ! Highly recommended shop. This wheel is a thing of great loveliness. Such a shame to put it onto a bike. Anyway just had to transfer the block off the old wheel - no problem. And then transfer the brake disc. Oh dear. A couple of the bolts had corroded and as soon as I tried to loosen them the star bolt things just gave up the ghost. No problem ! I'll drill them out... three drill bits later and no luck. Feeling mechanically confident for no good reason at all I then attempted removal of said disc using a chisel. A wood chisel. Don't ask. I was tired. Now chisels have their place carving wooden nymphs and the like, but disc brake removal is clearly outside of their comfort zone. And mine. One very bent and scarred disc. Oops. They don't bend back into shape either. Still attached to wheel. Oh dear. I'll tell everyone it got damaged in a crash...with a wolf. So I'll be driving tomorrow - can't face the horror of the ATM again - and I'll pop down to James cycles at lunchtime and get a new disc. Still a new disc will be very shiny and wonderous to behold. For a bit. Also bought new metal drill bit for next time... 29 march 2006 OE4 - no discs in stock at James - so wasted lunchtime trip. Got back to work and ordered new disc from Chain Reaction. Should be here tomorrow. Ho hum. 30 March 2006 OE4 - disc duly arrived and fitted after work. Commuted on ATM again today. Still feels horrible. Quick ride on OE4 later shows how vastly different they feel. Think the new block for the MMV is now sitting in the sorting office down the road. So who knows - by the weekend I may have a full set of working bikes !! 31 March 2006 OE4 - back on the road. Sooo good after the horror of ATM. Slightly deflated feeling of elation on the way home when I failed to negotiate the ford - very deep after all the recent rain. Don't care about falling off / getting wet / cuts'n'bruises - but there was an audience ! The humiliation ! 1 April 2006 MMV - new block has fixed chain skipping problem. Just got strange klunking/grinding noise to sort out now... sigh. Oh and replaced batteries in two wireless trip computer transmitters... 16 April 2006 MMV - quick easter outing and klunking/grinding noise still evident. Can see rear changer skipping under pressure. Only on middle chainring however. Aha ! Sounds like I need a new middle chainring - they don't seem to last very long. Quick google upon my return and it seems Shimano XT chainrings are notoriously bad (espesh the middle one). Lots of then painstaking research to find an alternative - finally found one from a company called Middleburn - duly ordered from Chain Reaction. This months mbr had a review of chainsets - it highlighted the middle ring on the XT as being particularly noisy and suggested replacing it. Wonder if this will sort out my chain suck issues. Watch this space. 23 April 2006 MMV - new Middleburn chainring arrived and fitted. Bit of a pain to fit as you need a special tool for Shimano XT chainsets to stop the chainring bolt backs spinning when you attempt to tighten them up. Park make a tool to do this - couple of quid. Anyway managed to kludge it so it was usable. And went for a big ride. Lots of mud. Long way. No suck, no noise - massive improvement. 03 May 2006 MMV - creaking. groaning (a bit). Think the main pivots need a bit of grease.Middle chainring now creaking as well. Just ordered tool to tighten it up. Biggish ride today out to far end of Ladybower over the tops and back through Hathersage - in your face wind all the way out. 03 May 2006 OE4 - wailing noise from front which stops if brakes applied slightly - usually a sign of knackered disc pads. Changed pads but old ones looked ok - so we'll see if this cures it. 07 May 2006 MMV - seems to be a bit of play in the rear suspension. Took it to bits. Put some grease on everything that moves. Put it back together. Still got some play in it. Looked on internet. Sounds like I need a new bushing kit for the rear shock. The bushes are designed to wear out (they sacrifice themselves to stop everything else wearing out). Ordered new bushing kit (and the wierd tool you need to fit them). Ho hum. That'll be next weekend sorted out. Useful site here which tells you how to do this (and also how to cure chain suck). 11 May 2006 OE4 - puncture on back wheel on way to work. Just past the Students Union as usual (lots of glass on road). Shock bushings kit arrived for MMV. 13/14 May 2006 MMV - replaced rear shock bushings. I don't know how much a bike shop would charge to do this but if it's less than £1000 then let them do it. The useless special tool ('the DU tool') is very good at extracting the old bushings, but the old bush just then gets stuck in the tool (do stop sniggering at the back). So I then had to drill it out (for heavens sake...). Only took a day and a half. Used every tool known to man. Aside from the stuck bushing problem it's pretty straightforward. And it has fixed the original problem. I'll have to buy another DU tool next time I do this job as it's completely battered now (and has the second bush still stuck inside it). Here's the rather lovely new bushings in situ. I never had so little fun messing around in bushes.  17 May 2006 OE4 - rear disc pads gone. New ones fitted. 24 May 2006 OE4 - read disc pads catching all the way home. Then a puncture a mile from home. Sigh. 7 June 2006 MMV - puncture on way home. Time for some new tyres. 11 June 2006 MMV - new rear tyre. A Panaracer Fire XC pro. Got big red sidewalls and looks slightly peculiar actually. 26 Aug 2006 MMV - attempted to fit new rear disc pads - but something wrong as the pads were such a tight fit I wasn't then able to get the disc between them. Put old pads back in for now.... Front forks feel like they need servicing... send away job. 17 Sep 2006 MMV - fitted new rear pads after previous temporary bodge disintegrated whilst on ride. Oops. Just took my time and they fitted fine. Ordered new bars for OE4 (bit wider) and a new chain cleaning device to replace broken one. Getting dark now... dug out my lights and tested them and they seem to work.. if they last the winter I'll be amazed as they never last more than one season. The place where I work is considering introducing a buy-a-bike scheme where effectively you can buy a bike half price (you avoid Tax, NI and VAT as the company buys it). So that might be another addition to the stable... would have to get rid of the ATM in that case. What to buy though.... ? 11 Dec 2006 OE4 - Two whole trouble free months ! Had to end, and it has. Headset on OE4 all creaky and rust oozing out. Now an ex-headset I fear. Will have to take to bike shop as this really is one of those scary get-it-wrong-and-say-goodbye-to-your-frame type things. Tried to put my light onto my MMV but the new chunky front handlebars are too big for the front light bracket. So forget that. Incredibly my lights are still working although the front one has started flipping into limp-home mode earlier than it used to - need to use my LED backup more than once. Stripped headset and regreased - maybe it will last. 4 Jan 2007 - OE4 - Front lights now given up the ghost - batteries only lasting 20 mins. So - I've bought some Blackburn X6 lights. Seem pretty good. In traffic you can flip them into flashing mode - so bright that cars just move out of the way. Mungus ! 14 Feb 2007 OE4 - Both brakes stuck 'on' and chain keeps slipping - so had a really fun ride home. Anyway stripped it down - headset now terminal and endlessly oozing rust. So I've ordered a new headset; brake pads; middle chainring (another middleburn); block; chain and gear cables. Will take a few days to sort out so I'm on the MMV as my commute bike. Here it is - all moist with WD40 in anticipation of its new parts arriving.  3 Mar 2007 OE4 - New Headset finally arrived - had to settle for a gold one in the end as the red ones were out of stock. Look how lovely it is. Now the tricky bit - fitting it. I've not got a headset press so I've borrowed a home made device (a big bolt)... oh dear.  10 Mar 2007 OE4 - Headset went in fine - dead easy. Back brake still stuck on solid. Tried to push the pistons back in and the capiler started to disintegrate. Oops. Off to JE James and I bought some Avid Juicy 5s.Look good. Bike now working again !  25 Mar 2007 MMV - One year of maintenance reports now done. I'm just back for a weekend cycling in the Lakes. Front Hope disc pad spring chewed itself up on a ride so it will need replacing. Suspension also feeling decidely ropey so I've taken off the forks and the rear shock and sent them to Mojo for servicing. Not cheap !. 02 Apr 2007 MMV - shocks back from Mojo. New stickers ! A ride over Stanage yesterday on the Orange left me in no doubt as to the need for full suspension - I've the bruises today to prove it ! Here they are, fully fettled. Nice :-  10 Apr 2007 MMV - Rear shock is fine but front shock still feels decidely unplush. Wont bother with an expensive service again. 23 Apr 2007 MMV - Rear brake is very spongy. Decided to try and bleed them. Unfortunately the cylinder cap allen bolts wouldn't come off without stripping... so ordered new cylinder caps (new improved design with bigger bolts so it's not just me who has this problem). Also ordered a proper hope bleed kit which uses pressure from a car tyre to pressurise the system. 26 Apr 2007 MMV - Bled brakes using bew bleed kit. No really made much difference ! 7 May 2007 MMV -new tyres front and back - Panaracer Fire folding (with fetching blue sidewalls). 10 July 2007 MMV - Big trip to the Howgills and North York Moors. If you get a chance to go to the Howgills then feign death. It was hell. Bike generally OK but the front chainring seems to be bent as you can see it moving relative to the front changer. Needs investigation. 8 Aug 2007 MMV - drive train looking very worn.... swapped front large chainring for another I had lying around. Put on new chain, new rear cassette and new jockey wheels (which we're almost completely worn). In the process of fitting these I found the source of the chainring 'wobble' - bottom bracket had worn - lots of play. So fitted new Hollowtech bottom bracket as well. Put it all together and went for a quick spin round the block. Chain skipping constantly on the middle chainring.... so ordered new Middleburn chainring. Not in stock yet. Oh dear. This is what happens if you run with a worn chain for too long - everything else it touches also wears out to 'fit' the worn chain to the extent when you use a new chain it won't work unless everything else is replaced. 12 Aug 2007 OE4 - whilst investigating cause of an ongoing creak I removed the rear wheel to check the bearings etc. When replacing the wheel I must have caught one of the rear disc pads - causing the disc pad to be seperated from it's metal backing plate. Not to worry - glued it back on with Araldite. Ordered two sets of rear pads. 13 Aug 2007 OE4 - My araldite solution lasted until the first descent at which point the pad detached and just fell out... Still waiting for new pads to arrive. 14 Aug 2007 OE4 - New pads arrived - very awkward to fit. At least the old Hayes brakes had really easy to fit pads and didn't use a seperate spring. Anyway got new pads but the hydraulic pressure has gone - must have lost some fluid when the pad fell out.... so either (a) take it to a bike shop - which means waiting several days or (b) get a Hayes bleed kit - still take a few days or (c) buy a complete new brake.... 15 Aug 2007 OE4 - Option (c) -bought another Avid Juicy 5 rear brake. At least I have to old one to repair at leisure and for spares.... ho hum. 18 Aug 2007 All - to avoid the situation with a badly worn chain (see 8 Aug 2007) I've bought a Park chain wear tool which should mean I can replace the chain before it gets too bad. Tried it on the OE4 and I'm just at the point where I need a new chain, so.... 26 Aug 2007 OE4 - ... fitted new chain. Will be interesting to see if it skips (so new cassette and new chainrings needed) - the chain wear tool said it wasn't too badly worn so I should be OK. I checked the rear hub for the source of the constant creaking - the freehub is very loose. So ordered new freehub - not a job I've done before so I'll practice on an old wheel I've got first..... still waiting for the middleburn ring for my MMV. So I'm down to the trusty old ATM at the moment (which I don't think I would ride as it's so horrible now). 26 Aug 2007 (afternoon) OE4 - new cassette. Couldn't be bothered to check out chain wear theory ! 28 Aug 2007 OE4 - Biblical creaking - not the freehub as previously thought. It's the bottom bracket. Embarrasingly loud. Trip to Halfords after work. They only had a no-name cheapo BB (£10) for the size I needed (118x68, although interestingly the original BB was 117.5x68 which I've never been able to find since). See how long this lasts... I tire of this.. 03 Sept 2007 OE4 - Ping ! Broken spoke on front wheel on way home. Wheel has lasted well even though it's a nasty cheap thing. Not worth fixing as (a) it's too old and (b) I can't be bothered. Ordered new Mavic 317 (see first entry from March 2006) to match the back wheel. Might try and fix the old one at my leisure... never had much success doing this in the past. 09 Sept 2007 A whole day of.... OE4 - new front wheel arrived and fitted. Whilst fitting this the postperson (?) said she'd just posted further bicycle spares through the letter box. I'm slightly disturbed the postperson has got an insight into my bicycle maintenance fetish. New wheel is very, very lovely ....  MMV - Finally the new middleburn chainring has arrived via aforementioned postal person - fitted and everything hunky dory now. You can see the classic sharkfin wear pattern on the old one :-  So that lasted about 18 months - again if you watch your chain wear and replace your chain 3 or 4 times a year this sort of wear can be avoided to a certain extent. Interestingly the new XT chainset that's just come out has a steel / carbon fibre middle chainring. OE4 - Spent the rest of the day trying to fit the new freehub. The freehub part was actually easy to fit but re-assembling the wheel bearings and axle was a complete mare ! Never again. It's sort of back together now but worringly there are some bits left over which probably isn't good. I feel a new back wheel purchase coming on..... 16 Sept 2007 OE4 - New pedals and new back wheel ! The annoying creaking noise is driving me mad and it must be stopped. Now that pretty much everything has been replaced if it still creaks then I will give up. 25 Sept 2007 OE4 - It still creaks. Although a different kind of creak. And has twice developed into a clunk. It sounds like the bottom bracket - but that's just been replaced. I may just live with it... 09 Oct 2007 OE4 - ... on the other hand the noise is doing my head in... so I inspected the bottom bracket - seems to be a different design to Shimano ones and has a big external roller bearing - which is loose. Korean rubbish ! So off to bike shop and purchased regular Shimano BB. Let's see what difference that makes. MMV working fine at the moment - went for a ride on Sunday and not a single misfortune of a mechanical nature manifested itself. 10 Oct 2007 OE4 - Creaking stopped ! 11 Oct 2007 OE4 - Creaking started again. Found a very helpful forum where all things creaking are discussed. Has gems such as "most noises sound as though they are coming from the bottom bracket" and "these are the most frustrating type of problem cyclists have to deal with". That's good then. Got a few things to try ! 13 Oct 2007 OE4 - Greased the QR skewers and the creaking has stopped ! Hurrah. 26 Oct 2007 OE4 - Creaking has started again. And greasing the QR skewers not helping this time. Chain also slipping under pressure - looks like a bent cog on the rear block - never had that before. 1 Nov 2007 OE4 - Creaking all gone. Just kept squirting GT85 at the chainrings and all is quiet.... 31 Dec 2007 OE4 - Puncture (rear) on the way home. Spare inner tube valve snapped off. Rescue required ! 1 Jan 2008 OE4 - New rear tyre. Tightened cones on back wheel as it's quite loose. Ordered new chain as the previously mentioned chain wear tool is indicating that my chain..... is worn. 3 Jan 2008 OE4 - Puncture (front) on the way home. In the snow. In the dark. In the woods. CO2 inflator kaput after it sort of blew up a bit in the kitchen a couple of days ago. Ho hum. Must be the silly season again! 15 Jan 2008 OE4 - Fitted new chain (see above). Not riding at the moment due to serious manflu. 21 Jan 2008 OE4 - First outing on Evo4 with new chain.... skipping like a bush kangaroo... restricted to one cog at the back. So much for the chain wear theory. Ordered new rear block. Here we go, here we go.... 22 Jan 2008 OE4 - New block arrived. Silly season is very much upon us. 25 Jan 2008 OE4 - Rear wheel bearings very loose. Attempted quick tightening. 26 Jan 2008 OE4 - Rear wheel bearings even looser. 27 Jan 2008 OE4 - Attempted proper fix of rear wheel bearing. The mysterious art of tightening wheel bearings. It's just too hard. Your choices are (a) a wheel which won't turn at all or (b) utter floppyness. Ordered new back wheel from Chain Reaction just in case. Will always do as a spare. 2 Feb 2008 OE4 - New back wheel arrived - in my haste to order I got the wrong wheel rim - it's got a braking surface whereas I normally get the disc specific version. Never mind - not a problem. My repair seems to be holding up anyway. 5 May 2008 OE4 - New chain as indicated by chain wear tool, let's see if it skips... 6 May 2008 OE4 - New chain doesn't skip ! Praise be to the chain wear tool, for he shall inherit the tool box. So looks like I need around four chains a year. Although it doesn't skip it does suck a bit. While in normal life a bit of suck might be good, on a bicycle chain it's very bad. Probably just needs degreasing (to get that nasty claggy stuff off they coat chains in when they ship them) and then a good lube-ing. Once lubed we should see less sucking. Fnarr fnarr. Fnook fnook. Also OE4 is creaking like a very creaky thing with extra lashings of... creak. Squirted it with GT85 - see how it is in the morning. Might be time for a quick strip down and service everything. Skip. Suck. Lube. Creak. Strip. Squirt. The circle of life. Well mine anyway. 8 June 2008 MMV - bled rear brake. First attempt failed dismally as I think the car tyre used to pressurise the system was too high pressure and brake fluid ending up squirting out of the master cylinder in huge amounts. Oops. Put it all back together and was about to give up but when I researched the price of new mono mini's I decided to have another go. Successful this time - just used a lower pressure tyre. 25 August 2008 MMV - brakes still shite. New chain needed according to chain wear tool.... might be a tad too late... let's see. 27 August 2008 ATM - given away ! I was never going to do anything with it. Seat post siezed but happily at the correct height for new owner. Goodbye ATM ! 30 August 2009 MMV - new chain fitted. Have to see if it works ok.. OE4 - New back wheel from Feb now fitted since existing wheel hub playing up - loose and needs a service. 7 Sept 2008 MMV - bled brakes again - both. Better now but still not a patch on the Avids. Thinking about ditching the Hopes and replacing with Avids. I've got a spare rear brake (just needs bleeding) so would just need the front one. OE4 - new saddle. Put up with soreness the whole of last winter. Seems like I need the Love Channel you get with WTB saddles - so that's what I've got. 21 Sept 2008 MMV - Time to ditch the hope brakes. Fitted old Avid to rear and bled it using bizarre Avid bleed kit. Sadly it needs a 160mm rotor. Existing rotor bolts completely knacked however so can't get the existing 140mm rotor off.... and the hub is loose anyway.. time for yet another new wheel ! Also I've ordered a caliper and lever (Juicy 5) for the front - without rotor £39 - bargain ! 1 October 2008 MMV - Now fully Avid kitted. New rear wheel. Avid rotor taken from (one of my many) slightly not working old wheel. Much, much better than the Hopes. Rear not as good as the front which is now completely fantastic. Might try bleeding the rear again - it's still better than the Hope-less. Hope's flogged on eBay for £75. Much confusion about rotor sizes/caliper compatibility.... not easy to find out from the Hope website. 12 October 2008 MMV - Very lovely outing to Houndkirk Moor in wonderful weather. Slightly spoiled by a very large cracking noise towards the end of the ride... and then the sound of the chain rubbing against the wheel. Upon closer inspection it appears that the rear swingarm has completely cracked... oh dear.... time to test that Marin Lifetime Frame Warranty claim again..... off to the bike shop. 18 October 2008 MMV - Now fixed - new rear swingarm provided free by Marin as part of their lifetime frame guarantee... yet to take it out for a spin but it looks good. Fortunately the new swingarm is pretty much as the old one - same colour - slightly different graphics. A whole new frame would have been a bit of a mare really since it might have meant whole new geometry (so maybe new forks, new shock).. Marin only replace the frame not everything that hangs off it. 13 Dec 2008 OE4 - Chain wear tool indicated time for a new chain.... so new chain fitted. Three months does seem to be about the norm for needing a new chain... 17 Dec 2008 OE4 - Bad chain suck on middle chainring - could just be the sticky grease on the new chain or could be time for a new chainring. I'll try cleaning the chain first... 5 Jan 2009 OE4 - Chain suck cured by degreasing chain. All is well. 6 March 2009 OE4 - Both front and rear brakes are sticking on... sometimes quite badly. Quick scour around the internet and I then tried freeing up the pistons using some brake fluid.... no joy. So I could do a complete rebuild, which would take a month and still not work.. or just buy a new set. New set of Avid Juicy 5s duly ordered from Merlin Cycles for £140... So these brakes lasted almost exactly 2 years. Not too bad I guess as it's used daily and this winter has been a real killer. Other than this really it's been a pretty reliable winter... 15 March 2009 OE4 - new Avids fitted and working fine. 28 March 2009 OE4 - I feel the bad winter is catching up with me now. Spotted headset cracked right at the bottom where it meets the fork crown. Off to JE James and new Hope headset purchased. Noticed the steerer tube very badly corroded so attacked it with a wire brush. Should get new headset fitted tomorrow. Terrible creaking sound coming from rear wheel... surely not time for another new back wheel....this one's only lasted 6 months. Might try something like a Hope hub next time.. sigh. 29 March 2009 OE4 - New Hope headset fitted using cunning home made headset press. 30 March 2009 OE4 - Swapped back wheel over (from the MMV) and creaking has stopped. Mmmm 5 April 2009 OE4 - Rear wheel bearings fully serviced - actually managed to do it and get the wheel bearings back together ! Tightened some spokes and the creaking has stopped... 19 April 2009 MMV - Headset seems to be dead. Can't stop it flapping about unless I prevent all motion.... Off to JE James and was about to get another Hope headset when the bloke suggested I try a Sunline headset - looks like a solid piece of kit. Normally £54.99 but on sale today for a bargain £19.99 (still £45.00 at Chain Reaction). Duly fitted and it the bike feels much better. Really nice looking headset. Fitting this also enabled me to try out my new BikeTools workstand - a think of very, very great loveliness. How did I manage without one for all these years... ? 29 May 2009 MMV - Oh dear, rear shock seems to have died. Some sort of fluid escaping through the pump connector valve... righty-ho... so decided to send it and the forks off to Mojo. Hopefully they can revive them both.. 6 June 2009 MMV - Forks and shock duly returned from Mojo. Forks have had a complete makeover with 2009 Fox stickers and look almost new ! Fitted back to the bike and let's see what difference they have made... Not a cheap exercise since getting both things serviced cost a not trivial £180.... 23 Aug 2009 MMV - new chain needed according to chain wear tool - might just be a tad too late. Also adjusted rear while bearings - there was a bit of play. OE4 - Ordered new rear mech (old one spring gone and now flops about noisily); front mech and shifters. Current ones never worked that well - front mech always getting stuck and levers never very snappy. 29 Aug 2009 OE4 - New shifters, rear mech and front mech fitted. Front mech proving to be a complete mare - something wrong with it - just can't get it shifting correctly. Need to stand back and ponder for a while. Had to shred the handlebar grips to get them off - another order on it's way to Chain Reaction... Hmm front changer sort of working - but still not ideal - reluctant to go onto small chainring. I do recall when I changed the Bottom Bracket abou three years ago the original was something like 118.5 but I couldn't get a replacement that exact size so had to go to 118 - more investigation required. MMV - Replaced chain - usual new-chain-will-it-skip apprehension. 30 Aug 2009 OE4 - Further tinkering with front changer (coupled with a strong desire to remain in the garage as I'd just re-varnished the garage door but needed to leave the door open as it was now raining) led me to taking a look at the bottom bracket to check out this 'wrong width' theory. Well it was a swine to get off and upon inspection pretty rusty. Now the rust won't spread to the frame as it's ALU but it did leave some sort of cruddy chemicaly deposit which was grunging up the threads. Cleaned it off eventually. However whilst cleaning the chainset I noticed there was a lot of play - looked like the whole crank / spider area was loose - not something that can be fixed. Well it's had a hard life so no complaints really. So quick scout on Chain Reaction / eBay and promptly ordered new Shimano M590 Deore chainset with integrated hollowtech BB (£50 seems like a bargain - although I'll hold onto my Middleburn chain rings for sure as the Shimano ones will only last for seven and a half minutes) - that should sort out the 'width' issue since these only come in one width. So another weekend of mechanical tinkering awaits... 31 Aug 2009 MMV - First outing with new chain. I'd already degreased and oiled out to rule out usual nonesense with an out of the box chain. However.... bad chain suck on middle chainring. Other chainrings fine. It's time... for another Middleburn - this one lasted two years so not too bad. It's been a great weekend for cycle spares retailers ! Another order to Chain Reaction on it's way... brudenell road 1 Sept 2009 OE4 - Interesting discussion at work re. bottom bracket corrosion problem - suggested that 'dielectric' grease is used to stop the steel reacting with the aluminium. Never let it be said that things get boring where I work. To be investigated... 5 Sept 2009 OE4 - Fitted new chainset. Hmmm doesn't seem to spin that well - wonder if the bottom bracket needs facing ? Otherwise ok and the front changer now works fine. MMV - fitted new chainring - skipping now stopped. 21 Sept 2009 OE4 - Not yet ridden this bike since new BB fitted - enjoying the last days of summer off road on the MMV. More I think about it the more likely it seems the BB on the OE4 needs facing. Will be a bike shop job as the tool to do this costs about £400. Seems quite likely to be the problem of the 'it doesn't spin that well' issue - especially as previous BB was a standard type not so sensitive to BB facing problems (BB facing is making sure the two outer surface of the BB shell are exactly parallel with each other - espesh important with Hollowtech type systems). 4 Oct 2009 OE4 - BB shell has now been faced (£15 at bike shop) - works fine now. Just ready in time for the winter season. 7 Nov 2009 OE4 - Rear tyre sidewall split - inner tube oozing out but fortunately didn't explode. New tyre duly fitted - had one in stock. Infact I have four in stock ! 14 Nov 2009 OE4 - Chain wear tool showing chain is worn - just at the .075" mark. New block as well as some bent teeth on this one causing skipping. 18 Nov 2009 OE4 - Chain wear evil portent quite correct as it broke on the way home - middle of nowhere, no lights (or even roads), so long walk to road and then invoked International Rescue. New chain not yet arrived... Lights swapped onto MMV ready for tomorrow - MMV could do with an outing as it's been idle for several weeks. 19 Nov 2009 MMV - hmmm, first outing for a while on this. Right hand pedal is loose. I've never once managed to service pedal bearings so looks like a quick trawl on ebay to see what's available... 22 Nov 2009 OE4 - New block and chain duly fitted. The thing about losing your old chain in the woods is that you don't have anything to measure the new chain against. So without further ado you simply snip off the number of links you 'think' you cut off last time. Which of course will be far too many as your memory is now defective. So now the chain is too short. Now there are many handy guides on the internet to determining the correct length of a chain, all of which you look at whilst pondering your new short chain. Very little information, infact none at all, about what to do if your chain is too short. Oh dear. Ordered another chain... sigh. At least I will now have a spare short chain should the need for such a thing ever arise. 17 Jan 2010 MMV - wondered why I've had a strange pedalling sensation recently - one side of the bottom bracket has bearings almost completely mashed. Time for a new BB. 24 Jan 2010 MMV - new bottom bracket fitted. Old one well and truly duff. Headset also feeling a bit grindy - took everything apart and regreased but still not great - maybe my Sunline £19.99 bargain headset isn't such a bargain after all - not even lasted 9 months. OE4 - fixed puncture from earlier in the week. Front brake caliper lost one bolt completely and the other was loose - explains odd klunking sounds I've been getting. Fortunately my stock of dead and dying old brake components yielded new bolts so all sorted now. 30 Jan 2010 Just received a pair of Schwalbe Snow Stud tryes - just need some snow now ! Please don't make me wait until next winter...  03 Feb 2010 OE4 - snow ! There is a god. Quickly swapped snow tyre equipped wheels from MMV. Morning - lots of ice and a bit of snow - excellent grip. Evening - big dump of snow - also excellent. Sound a bit strange on road - like I'm crushing rice krispies. What a difference they make - very confidence inspiring (which will end in tears at a later date...) 07 Feb 2010 MMV - new rear brake pads fitted. Also fitted new headset - annoying since old one (Sunline) had lasted less than a year - possibly it was overtightened which led to its premature departure. 6 Apr 2010 OE4 - Rear wheel bearing problems - had adjusted and greased them a couple of months ago but feeling very graunchy now. Took apart and one of the cone surfaces is badly pitted and scored. So ordered (a) new back wheel with a Hope Pro 2 hub for day to day use and (b) replacement hub assembly so I can rebuild the duff current hub and maybe convert that into a winter wheel.. Also ordered new brake disc so don't need to keep swapping those about. 17 Apr 2010 MMV - Did air can service of rear shock and replaced all seals - actually very easy to do and certainly it's no hassle just to give the seals a quick clean. New wheel still not arrived.... it's in the post. 24 Apr 2010 MMV - new wheel arrived. Hope hub is indeed very lovely if extremely noisy (good for getting dog walkers to move out of the 'kin way though). 10 May 2010 OE4 - snapped chain on way home. Most disgruntling. Even more disgruntling I'd left my phone at work and was therefore unable to summon the services of International Rescue. Managed to kinda fix it but will replace at the weekend. 30 Aug 2010 OE4 - Bottom bracket making noises under pressure. Quick exam revealed very graunchy bearings on one side. New one duly ordered - nice Hope one which has serviceable bearings. BB has lasted 12 months to the day ! 4 Sep 2010 OE4 - New Hope BB fitted and very lovely it is too. Let's see how it copes with winter... 5 Dec 2010 OC - New SPDs ordered. New stem ordered (Race Face). New crud catcher ordered. 13 Dec 2010 OC - New stem fitted - 100mm - previous 50mm (El Gallo) thing too short as knees kept hitting the handlebars almost. The El Gallo looked nicer (chunky white block) but will shortly be residing on eBay. Also fitted front crud-catcher (OC has crud catcher bosses). I've also attended to rear wheel as a couple of spokes were complaining - usual bedding in nonesense. Just need some pedals and I can ride it ! Current severe cold weather is playing havoc with deliveries etc. We expect another bout of snow at the end of the week. I've fitted snow tyres to the MMV as the full suss seems to help in deep snow (as you are forever hitting ridges, bumps etc.). 16 Jan 2011 OE4 - Chain wear tool indicated chain worn. Replaced chain but looks like it's a tad too late - skipping - so new block and middle chainring duly ordered. 23 Jan 2011 OE4 - new block and middleburn chainring fitted, seems Ok. OC - fitted Yeti grips to replace hopeless skinny grips. 13 Feb 2011 OE4 - rear hub loose (again) - tigthened up. MMV - snow tyres replaced with regular summer tyres.. which can only mean it's going to snow again soon ! 27 Feb 2011 OC - Noticed that I can't shift down to the smallest two cogs at the rear. Checked the rear deurailler and the return spring seems somewhat limp. Sub-optimal. Seems a common problem with SRAM X9's - not good for an 80 quid changer. Shimano XT inbound.... 28 Feb 2011 OE4 - chain getting snarled up changing from outer chainring to middle... looking at the big chainring seems to be a bit shark toothed. So will order a replacement. Never had to replace large chainring before...new chainset was installed Aug 2009 so not sure really... will look again at the weekend. Is this the dawn of a new silly season of maintenance ? 5 Mar 2011 OE4 - new middleburn outer chaingring ready to fit. OC - new XT rear changer and new XT rapidfire pods ready to fit. That's this weekend sorted out. 3 Apr 2011 OE4 - new middleburn chainring fitted and has sorted out gearchange problems. OC - new rear change and pods fitted - perfecto ! MMV - front changer has practically seized up - have WD40'd it but no joy. New one duly ordered.... 10 Apr 2011 MMV - new front changer fitted - always find this a difficult job for some reason... 22 April 2011 As it's my birthday I could think of nothing better to do than a spot of cycle maintenance... MMV - Started to rebuild Hope rear hub (Pro II) - fairly easy. Some excellent videos on the Hope site and YouTube. Ordered new set of bearings from CRC. Also did a lube service of the forks. I've always felt the rear hub wasn't spinning as easily as it should - kinda hilighted more by the Orange Crush which seems to fly along in comparison... OC - Lube service of the forks. OE4 - All cleaned and oiled and now resting for the summer ready for next winter. Will need new lights or at least a new battery for the existing Blakburn lights. 8 May 2011 MMV - finished the hope rear hub service. Had to buy the special Hope seal seating tool - didn't seem to actually do anything however so will be interested to see how long that lasts... The hub is incredibly well built compared to a typical shimano offering (it has 5 sealed bearings within it) and the construction means it can never become loose (there's none of that mystical cone adjustment required). All the components are replaceable as well. Quality piece of kit, just a shame the freewheel is so very, very noisy ! Will check the front hub (also Hope) but I think it's fine - bearing replacement is very easy on the fronts. The Alpine readiness work continues (off to the Alps in July) - new brake pads at the front and have bled the front brakes as seemed very spongy. 7 May 2011 MMV - The Alpine readiness work has halted as I've now sold this bike. Had to admit I didn't like riding it anymore after the OC... So onto ebay it went - very popular item. 8 May 2011 OC - new rear brake pads fitted. Superstar kevlar. 27 June 2011 OC - ever since the new brake pads have been fitted the back wheel makes a screeching noise sometimes. If you keep pedalling then there is no noise only when you stop pedalling. Thought it might be the new brake blocks but looks more likely to be the hub - so have services the bearings. Deore hubs really are crap compared to Hope ones. 13 July 2011 OC - much creaking around the BB. New Chris King BB (don't ask how much) fitted which involved also buying new crank extractor (Race Face ISIS type). Let's see if it solves the creaking. Based on previous experience creaking always takes three months to sort out. Off to the Alps with the bike for two weeks in a couple of days. Mechanical Misfortune awaits ! 1 Sept 2011 OC - chain worn according to chain wear indicator. New chain duly fitted. Now skipping. 5 Sept 2011 OC - new rear block fitted - skipping stopped ! 20 Sept 2011 OC - new front light for winter - a Hope R4 LED. Small battery pack and appears to be really well made.. let's see how long it lasts. Not cheap ! 25 Jan 2012 OC - headset oozing rust and it's either super sloppy or uber rigid... time for a new headset. Nice shiny Hope headset duly ordered... 1 Mar 2012 OC - Hope R4 LED broken, looks like bad battery lead connection. Posted back to Hope to fix it. In the meantime bought super bright chinese LED for £30. Not quite sure why I spent £220 on the Hope Light now. 5 Mar 2012 OC - Hope returned light - fixed. Now have two very bright lights... 18 Mar 2012 OC - Front changer stuck. Degreased and oiled but still "stuck" on large chainring and can onlt be moved by using a hammer. Going to order new front changer, just need to work out the size... 24 Mar 2012 OC - New front changer duly fitted... all working. 25 Mar 2012 OE4 - Rear brake sticking on - cleaned and fiddled but no joy... lets go and look on ebay... 1 Apr 2012 OE4 - Eventually managed to free piston in rear brake. The pistons in Juicy's are made out of cheese so I'm not hopeful about how long it will last. Also bled the rear brake which obviously means it's now all spongy and useless. Sigh. 7 Apr 2012 OC - Chain wear tool showing chain... is worn. So replaced. Hopefully not too late to avoid skipping... etc. etc. 8 Apr 2012 OC - Typical long bank holiday scenario... bike all nice clean... bit bored... lets service some tricky part. So I did. Front Forks. Now I've done this before and just cleaned the foam seals... but this time all the fork oil made a bid for freedom.Fork oil and new foamy bits duly ordered from Mojo. Sigh. Big bike ride coming up in a couple of weeks in the Dales.. so need everything back in working order by then... 22 Apr 2012 OC - new rear brake pads. Easy job - Elixirs much easier than Juicy's. Then serviced front forks following abortive attempt previously. Fully armed with Fox suspension oil, a seal/wiper kit and a big syringe. Actually dead easy to do in about 30 mins. Quick ride after and they feel super creamy. Here's the stuff :-  5 June 2012 OC - new front brake pads. Have ordered some cheap pads from eBay (4 pairs for £17.99)... 12 Jan 2013 OE4 - snow tyres fitted in anticipation of snow. However whilst cleaning bike noticed one of the chainring bolts is missing... that would have explained the poor gear change last time I rode it... off to CRC website now... 15 Jan 2013 OE4 - Chainring bolts duly fitted. 23 Feb 2013 OC - new chain as chain wear indicator indicated... wear... let's see if it skips. Tightened rear wheel bearings. Also changed rear disc pads. Tried to change front pads but the retaining pin allen head is rounded. Two hours of drilling, swearing, blood, dremel multi-tool... everything. Still stuck. Job for tomorrow. 24 Feb 2013 OC - finally got pin out using every tool known to man. New pads fitted. 2 Mar 2013 OC - Rear wheel bearing a bit loose... stripped and replaced ball bearings. Shimano hubs are really shite compared to proper hubs like Hope ones. After 157 hours of random adjustments it seems to be ok. But I'm sure it will be wobbly next week... Also fitted new block as was skipping somewhat following new chain... 3 Mar 2013 OC - Didn't even have to wait a week. Sure enough newly fixed rear hub already a bit loose again.... In the grand scheme of things Do I Want To Spend Another Weekend Tinkering With Bearings And Cone Spanners... no. Duly ordered new back wheel with very lovely Hope Pro 2 hub. Shimano really ought to move onto proper cartridge bearings. As it is they always work loose. 20 Apr 2013 OC - Noticed a lot of play in the bottom bracket... my very expensive Chris King bottom bracket. Bought a Pace one to replace it. When I took it apart the non-drive side bearings were a complete mess - I could see the ball bearings which shouldn't happen. It's less than 2 years old. Will see how long this Pace one lasts but I'm thinking may as well just buy cheaper ones in future. 18 May 2013 OC - My new back wheel has developed a whining noise - upon closer inspection the bearings seem to be... knackered ! This is my very expensive Hope Pro 2 hub ! Back to Chainreaction I think... 28 May 2013 OC - Wheel fixed and returned to me. All is well. 6 Oct 2013 OC - Chain wear tool says chain is worn.. so new chain duly fitted. 8 Oct 2013 OC - chain skipping on middle ring at front - looks like classic sharkfin wear. New chainring duly ordered from Chainreaction. 9 Oct 2013 OC - oh dear - load creaking noise from seatpost - upon inspection seat tube is cracked ! Doh. I suspect the seat post has been over the limit point and hence it's put a strain on the tube. What to do ? 10 Oct 2013 OC I've found a place in Dronfield which can repair aluminium frames. In the meantime I've ordered a super long seat post which I think should be ok... might just try it and see how it goes. OE4 noisy front brake - suspect it needs new pads. It really feels a bit knackered this bike now... 11 Oct 2013 OC2 Ordered 2014 model Orange Crush - 650B wheels ! 12 Oct 2013 OC New Blackspire chainring fitted - looks nice... Made In Canada, I wondered what they did there.  Also fitted super long seat post to see if that will stop the crack developing... you can see the crack below.  I've emailed Orange to get their opinion - either (a) it can be repaired or (b) the long seat post "fix" will hold or (c) it should be binned. If I keep it then this will become my commuting bike and the new OC2 will become the weekender. OE4 is just getting on a bit... but if I have to bin OC then what I'll probably do is strip it for parts (Fox forks, Hope Evo 2 rear hub, decent wheels, nice gears) and then buy a new frame and build bike#3. And then get rid of OE4. Not quite sure what bike#3 will be... might do something a bit "roady".. 20 October 2014 OC2 - The 2014 Orange Crush ! Fitted SPDs, lopped 2cm off each of the bars, crud catcher, and Thomson Elite Union Jack seat post fitted....  23 November 2013 OC - changed all the brake pads... rears needed bleeding after which is quite unusual. So duly applied my Avid bleed kit - seems to work fine with Elixir brakes on the OC... and it actually worked... normally bleeding the brakes will have, at best, no effect. But it worked ! 03 August 2014 A long period of inactivity for all bikes... training for the Great North Run so cycling taking a second place ! OC - Front and rear changers - both return springs all floppy. Whether due to lack of use I dunno. Anyway new Deore XT changers fitted which also has the advantage that (a) the rear is now a Shadow model which means less susceptible to knocks and (b) finally means all my bikes now have the same rear gearing (high-normal/low-normal malarkey) as it was always confusing switching between OC and t'other bikes. OC2 - BB seems knackered.... now looking at Chainreaction... 18 October 2014 OC - Fitted new chain which skips badly, ordered new block... 25 October 2014 OC - Removed old block and to my surprise half the hub came out with it.. sub-optimal. It's a Hope Pro 2 as well. Attempted to re-assemble it and now it won't freewheel properly - seems resistant which makes the chain go floppy... sigh - a job for another weekend. 20th June 2015 NEWSFLASH : Nothing to note over the winter oddly - Whooping Cough has laid me low for several months ! OE4 - moving house and something had to go ... quietly disposed of OE4 at local tip. I was never going to ride and most of the components were either not working or out of date..... I could have sold it maybe but with the house move... 20th July 2015 OC2 - new disc pads fitted prior to summer of cycling in Spain. Had to let some brake fluid out on one side as couldn't get the pads apart. 15th Sept 2015 OC - new block and chain fitted as well past it now. Happily front cogs seem fine however. Have purchased this seasons lights - very nice machined aluminium front LED light from China - 6000 Lumens and £50 ! We'll see how it goes. To be fair last seasons is still working but my new route home involves lots of dark woods so need something brighter. 17th July 2016 OC2 - been a while since I updated.... very nice aluminium lights from China broke instantly... the electronics were fine but the alu clasp broke very easily... so went back to last years model. Decided Rock Shox Sektors needed some attention (July 2016) so bought service kit and currently working my way through that - messy ! So spent a day on my old OC - interesting to compare 26 vs 27.5 wheels... 26 seems faster to accelerate, 27.5 much better downhill and over bumps... all in all I'd say the 27.5 is better, more fun as downhills are much, much faster and more stable whilst uphills on the 26 are marginally faster... and you're still just going uphill.. big wheels are the future ! Whilst removing forks checked headset on OC2 and the bearings have gone... Several hours researching new headset sizing system but think I am ok with some new cartridge bearings (Cane Creek headsets seem pretty good in terms of servicing etc.) - duly ordered. OC (26) gear change is naff - really stiff action so need to look at that. Many, many thing to do.... 22nd July 2016 OC2 - Still working my way through fork servicing. Started on headset and naturally the several hours I spent headset sizing was completely wasted as I've not ordered the correct sizes... sigh - so ordered some more... from Germany ! Couldn't find any in stock in the UK. Any thoughts of taking OC2 out for a ride tomorrow now banished. OC - creaking somewhere.... watch this space 6th August 2016 OC2 - all back together now although had to buy new shock pump as old one seemed to be letting all the air out when I disengaged it... new shock pump has a two stage connector to avoid such a calamity. |
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