This weekend rediscovered the joys of being off the bike, and Sunday was perfect. I have since Saturday been deep in the finer side of maintenance camp.
I’m at it with two bikes on the stand. One is a 54cm Tange rig that will utilize some idle road parts and go on the market. And, the LaBan needed the dock for a while, so I hung ‘er on the wall with a stuck seat post until it bothered me, this status, as it had stuck in a matter of months. I was able to get it out without the use of the pro tool or last resort which is: A: A 13/32 hole drilled in the center of the bottom bracket. B: 3/8″ steel rod long enough to reach the edge of the post and C: Hammer. Now you know how to get ANY seatpost out.
Being down to one bike gets me nervous. Here’s a reflector bracket that I machined:
Another interesting image, this one of some equipment that I’d like to get into using someday:
These days of all day rain yield to the sunny days being truly enjoyed. Lance loves to run across wide grassy spaces more than anything, and I let him. I play sneak-away and pedal as quick as I can. He catches me pretty quickly. Very fast dog.
Going out when it is raining this hard means walking with an umbrella. It’s big enough that he could stay out of the rain if he walked right by me, like he is supposed to. But little Lance hasn’t figured it out. He’s felt the larger drops from the edge of the umbrella, and is too afraid to get under it. Yes, this has potential to be a parable.
You may be wondering is tilapia bad for dogs? According to Article Insider, this type of fish is absolutely safe for dogs because it possesses amazing health value and does not harm them.
better way to get out a stuck seatpost (works with aluminum posts that have welded themselves to steel), stopper up one end of the system (either pull the bottom bracket and make sure the top of the seatpost is plugged, bike upside down, or plug up the bottom bracket area and pour through top of seatpost) and pour in ammonia. let sit for about an hour, maybe longer. then pour out the ammonia, give it a big twist. i think i let a Thomson post go dry in my BREW (i greased heck out of it when installed, then didn’t move it for 4+ years) so I didn’t want to ruin either one. the ammonia (ammonium? whichever is easily available at stores) worked great, thank you St. Sheldon Brown….
I had a more creative way to “adjust” to that circumstance. Cheapy aluminum seatpost welded into my steel Kona…probably hadn’t moved in 6 or 7 years. I don’t know if my pedalstroke changed or my legs got longer, but when I put the bike back together to make it a singlespeed, the post was about 1-1/2″ too short. After trying like CRAZY to move that post (including using a torch and a 10-lb sledgehammer) with ZERO success, I took a hacksaw to the post. Cut it at about the halfway point, then got a piece of solid aluminum roundstock, turned the diameter down with a lathe to fit inside each severed end of the post with NO play, then knurled each end and pounded them back in place. Had to be VERY sure on my measurements so that I added exactly the right amount, and be pretty accurate on how straight the seat was going on, because it is NOT twisting. It actually came out pretty nice.
Also a gun cleaning rod with wet sanding cloth inserted works excellent to smooth out the little rust spots on the inside. I think frames need to air out every now and then, too, as water and dirt intrude with tenacity.
Cats don’t need umbrellas. They’re usually inside where it’s warm and dry, waiting to be fed.
Landsharks with frickin laser beams on their heads! The last aluminum steel infusion project I had was with a quill stem stuck in a steer tube for a pilot at work. I first cut off the stem above the steerer, then drilled out the stem as thin as I dared. Then cut the stem with a hacksaw blade in two places. Then went to it with a drift punch and knocked the two pieces loose. The pilot promised beer in return for saving his fork. He never delivered.
…my neighbors dog told me he’s figured out umbrellas but he mentioned that without an opposable thumb it was a bitch trying to use one…
…loren…make up two little stickers that go on each side of the nose gear…“cut here”…
…you know he’ll see it…
Good idea BGW, but sadly we’re both airline employees!
I dunno LJ, but can’t you be a rolling bike mechanic with your truck and tools? You know, a little paint on the side to advertise. A little cash under the seat and in the hand to make it a go? I mean, a shop doesn’t need to be any more than what is necessary and what’s the worst repair we generally see as hacks? STUCK SEAT POSTS, man!
I remember BGR was concocting renting a space near downtown that was about 10×8 in size. It would have been a primo summer wrenching pad.
Seems possible anyway.
…loren…ya, that would go over big, huh ???…can you say “homeland security”…
..btw…THE GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES !!!…
Gnome –
Need a fixed location to make money
need a fixed location to make money
these suggestions fall on experienced ears,
but… need a storefront to have a successful shop. A PLACE.
People do not trust the stranger. I have only found work through being introduced. Case in point. I have higher visions than 80′ square.
The truck is MY shop and MY home, but not my $$Income$$, never will be.
I’m not a hack… I’m a pro. The hardest bike repair is not a stuck post. It is a broken off tap inside a fork.
Pro’s don’t break taps. Ever.
I however, break them at will. Once broke a campy crank bolt off in the spindle. A month later, it was fixed once the Italian’s deemed the issue worthy and sent the tools over from the boot (Because they have to be different). Interestingly, I didn’t break the tap that time.
That said, I’m neither a pro, nor a hack, but a professional hack.
Great post LJ.
Good advice too, thanks.
If the seatpost is expendable, we will take the wheels off the bike,turn it upside down and clamp the seatpost in a vise. Someone stands on the counter and pulls up while twisting the bike back and forth. Has never failed.
Guys, for what reason would someone tap* the inside of a fork?
*meaning to cut female threads on the i.d. Are you threading the inside of the steer tube??.. what the..
johnny – the vice technique works MOST of the time. Not always. I had one that would just spin and shred in the vice once. It was 30 year stuck. Kark – think about it, dude…. if you are machining a hole to thread a bracket, to mount fenders or canti brake cable holder, you’d be tapping the hole if you want threads. M5 or M6. Have the hole .007″ too small and your tap may snap. Taps cannot be drilled out.
The LaBan has an M7 seat clamp bolt because the M6 was stripped when I bought the frame, and M8 is too big. M7 hardware is hard to find at the store, but you can find an M7 bolt on some cheap mountain bike stems.
There’s another sweet trick.
Tapping existing threads is simple, and rarely would a tap break. I am talking about cutting new threads, and with smaller holes, even a few thousandths of an inch is critical. Cut enough threads and you WILL break a tap. By the way, VOTE PRO BICYCLE today.
The World Series is on? Is it September already??
ok, LJ so, if I follow you’re tapping thru the fork crown/ steer tube.
it wasn’t clear that you were putting threads where there is already an available thru hole for a bolted connection. (at least on any fork I’ve come across)
I actually thought you were talking about drill/tapping thru the fork wall. ..which..well, ya know..
carry on.
Easier for a stripped M6 is to make it American(Fuck Yeah!) And go with 1/4-20. Don’t even need to drill the hole out. A bit of a bitch when you need to remember to have that one standard wrench in the tool kit though.
Erik – you’re not enough a purist… yet. I insist on having all the fucking hardware on my bike to be metric. I couldn’t find an M7 bolt so I made one… out of brass. It has been replaced with a steel allen bolt, that I found out this April could be found on MTB stems… with a 5 mmm allen like any bike should have. Put 1/4×20 inside an M6 hole and you are not getting enough thread contact. It would be 5/16 size bolt. I considered that. Nope. Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent.
I also have some Campagnolo crank bolts that use a 7 mmm Allen… you know, hard to find also but you can get at Sears if you buy the whole kit.
Forks with cantilever brakes may be absent of a center hole in the crown.
Johnny’s right on…we had a 4 man Tomassini welded post sitch at the shop a month back. The vise worked great, but the noise of 4 men (well, 2 men…the other two wore girl pants and ironic beards) twistin the Columbus around was enough to chase off tube buyin customers. It worked, though of course the dude stripped off the drive train, chopped the bars and probably put on a top tube pad. Ours is not to reason why, just collect the check and cry.
KT
Jellyjar channeling #41-That’s funny.
Eh Joe.
He just takes after you.
homie, i’ll fuckin’ throw a pedal wrench at your top tube.
i’ll straight spread a cone wrench out on your axle nuts like a backpack lid.
i’ll fuckin’ forget some bearings up out your baxle.
maybe your fronxle, too, guy.
i’ll get a big ol’ wrongsize backthreader and reroute your fork guides.
i round out nipples like mad.
i fuckin’ fray cables with too much g-force on the wrench. skra-plink! that’s the sound of your stem bolt forgetting its head on my wrench.
i drop limit screws like marlberry butts.
pro.
Yeah, the li’l feller wants to be just like me when he grows up.
Snake Hawk +1
I repaired a flat after today’s ride, fucking 95 psi and ready to go for tomorrow’s ride. Peace n’shit.
Snake Hawk ++
the rest of this shit smells like diabetes.
…ya ???…
…i’d suggest ‘cept for that part where i said the GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES…
…’cuz i’m just sayin’…
What does diabetes smell like? I thought this thread was about bike tech?
you;re right, lj. I’ve just been off on tangent. But to end the ponder, diabetes smells like sweet decay (not including the smell of the Rangers right now).
…surprisingly, to me at least, the rangers & their fans turned out to be pretty classy in defeat…props to them…
…joe buck & even more so, tim mccarver, the fox network’s announcers, were just so outright biased that it was sad…it felt like they had to force themselves to compliment los gigantes even when it was quite clear the orange & black had it all over the philles & then the rangers…
…we’ve got some history out here with lifetime giants like mays & mccovey, so with that sweet smell of victory drifting like late summer fog throughout the bay area, we’re fucking loving it !!!…long time comin’…
bgw – I don’t give a flying through the green light fuck. Bicycles. Alcohol. Titties. Get with the program.
Where’d them titties go? Get with the program!
@lj
Ya forgot dope. And puppies. And rainy days. And body shots. And garters. And green lights all the way to work. And mom’s who have past.
And a whole shit-load of other things that are great about life.
Once again. Fuck you.
Yea. I’m drinking again. I am such an asshole. But then again, so are you.
+1 TripleF, me fell off wagon too.
…& i should be concerned about what you care about because ???…
Alright, Leipheimer vs. Tomac.
The event: Paris Roubaix after an El Nino storm, all muddy and shit.
The tools: Bike-E recumbents.
GO!!!!
…i predict the constant hammering over miles & miles of rough cobbled surfaces will crack the protective insulation on those e-recumbents & due to the wet conditions both tomac & leipheimer will be electrocuted before they slide, unconscious onto the cold muddy ground…
…kinda sad when you think about it, huh, senor trout ???…
…& all because you thought you had a solution to a little unrest…
…something to be learned there…
Hey BGW, Bike-E recumbents aren’t electric.
Google it…something to be learned there:)
And, I’ll go to my grave trying to solve unrest.
KT
I once read that a herbal thea made of hamamelis is a treatment for hemmorhoids. Is this true? Or is there a better alternative? thanks L.