Home maintenance tool suggestions

Cugel wrote:

Have these been mentioned?

Copper-based anti-seize stuff (spray or grease). 

A spoke tension measuring device

A wheel bearing extraction & instalation kit.

I use a copper anti-seize spray on things like pedal threads or anything else that might see spontaneous metal-gluing i' the threads but haven't got a spoke tension measurer or the wheel bearing tools. However ....

I do true wheels (without anything but a spoke key and a temporary summick stuck to the fork or seat stay as a guide) if they show a wobble or if I ever snap a spoke (only three snaps in 64 years cycling, mind - yet all relatively recently). Would a spoke tension measuring device help to avoid flop-wheel or a potential snapper-spoke? I have a suspicion that one pair of inexpensive wheels I have (came with the bike) are not really tight enough in their spoke tensions.

All the wheels I have now use press-fit bearings of various sizes. I even have some spare bearing sets (for Hunt wheels, as they came with one of their "offers"). But so far there seems no sign of wobble, drag or graunch to justify changing any wheel bearings. Surely, though, the time will come?

Has anyone found a wheel bearing kit (for both extraction and press-in) that doesn't cost well north of £100? I often wish I had a metal-working lathe as it can't be hard to turn the pressing parts to use for bearing extraction & installation with a length of standard M8 threaded rod and a few M8 nuts.

Copper based grease is a good call - I'm not so keen on a spray version as you typically only want to use a tiny amount in a specific place.

REMINDER - if you've got crappy Shimano cheese-head retaining pad pins on your brakes, then check that they haven't fully seized. (That's one place where a tiny bit of coppaslip can be helpful)

I've got a spoke tensionometer but found it a pain to use when building/truing a wheel, so I just go by feel rather than muck around with it. The problem that I had is that you can end up focussing on trying to get the tensions equal, but often there's differences in manufacturing tolerances which mean that there'll be slightly different spoke tensions required to keep the wheel trued.

hawkinspeter wrote:

Copper based grease is a good call - I'm not so keen on a spray version as you typically only want to use a tiny amount in a specific place.

A word of advice ref copper grease, always use sparingly and with gloves if possible. Have a rag handy to wipe off excess, and whatever you do, don't touch anything else until you've thoroughly washed your hands. 

Me before learning this lesson:

When trueing a wheel I always go by simply by eliminating the wobble. And sound. Pluck the spoke. If the note is too high, slacken off a touch opposing spokes. Too low, tighten up, and see if it reduces lateral deviation. Go slowly, and it seems to work for me. And is simple enough for me to understand...

I always thought copaslip was for high temperature applications. Ordinary grease, perhaps lithium based for water resistance in UK, should be fine.

Geoff Ingram wrote:

I always thought copaslip was for high temperature applications. Ordinary grease, perhaps lithium based for water resistance in UK, should be fine.

If it's meant to move, then use grease. If it's not meant to move, then use copaslip. (If it's carbon fibre then use assembly paste - I've heard it can absorb grease and swell which is not great for seatposts).

KDee wrote:

Here's a question. My race bike has thru-axles. The rear in particular feels like it is seizing against the frame (carbon). Use a dab of carbon grease (not gripper paste) where the head of the thru-axle contacts the frame?

I wouldn't bother. It could well be the paint/finish slightly sticking, but the torque used on a thru-axle should easily persuade the two to part and I doubt that it would lead to any noticeable damage. Also, thru-axles are typically undone relatively frequently to change tyres or give the wheels a good clean so there's less chance of the CF seizing like with a seatpost. I can't see a dab of grease there causing any harm, though.

The torque is high enough that grease should not be a problem. However if you are still concerned you can use a low strength thread lock compound. The medium and high stuff is overkill, and you will need quote a lot of force to break the bonds.

ktache wrote:

I'd already got a good Park chain whip and now I've gone Rohloff for my main bike so cassette removal is much rarer, but if I hadn't or was starting fresh I would want a Pedros vise whip or the decathlon simpler version and a Crombie, abbeytools if I was feeling flush or something cheaper if I could find it.

Having a handle on the cassette locking tool would have made my life so much easier, and abbeytools make some lovely stuff.

Agree ref Decathlon chain whip (the one with no whip). It's by far the easiest and least messy I'm my opinion. I'm never going back to the whip type. 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip-cassette-remover/_/R-p-200

Good to see more people liking Decathlon's chain 'whip'. I swear by it too. Cheap, yet sturdy and very handy.

Cugel wrote:

One torque wrench is no longer sufficient - unless you've found one that goes from 0.5Nm to 50Nm. Teeny bolts such as the bleed bolt on the hydraulic brake levers or the front mech push-plate bolt now come with recommended torques settings; the biggest torque needed on a bike is generally 40-50Nm for things like the chainset retension bolt, cassette retainer and disc lockrings.

Do you have any press-fit bearings (e.g. in the BB, headset or wheel hubs)? If so, various pullers and presses are essential if you're going to replace the press fit bearings yourself. Bolt & cup pullers, by the way, are far better than those drifts you hit with a hammer to free press fit bearings.

A slot tool for straightening bent discs could be useful. I have one  - but haven't yet bent a disk, mind.

A wire stripper and electrical connector-squisher tool is good for putting on and taking off the caps used on the ends of bare cables, to stop them unravelling.

I wouldn't consider a torque wrench "necessary" for things like cassettes that specify 40-50Nm - just do it up about as hard as you can manage easily. Though I do own a large beam style torque wrench for larger torques, I can rarely be bothered to use it. For things like headset and seatpost bolts, I always use a torque wrench as I wouldn't want to damage a CF frame.

hawkinspeter wrote:

I wouldn't consider a torque wrench "necessary" for things like cassettes that specify 40-50Nm - just do it up about as hard as you can manage easily. Though I do own a large beam style torque wrench for larger torques, I can rarely be bothered to use it. For things like headset and seatpost bolts, I always use a torque wrench as I wouldn't want to damage a CF frame.

Well, like you, I did used to do the "hard as you can" method for various bike bits .... but these days stuff is more delicate although more precisely made. The cassette lockring has but a few threads into the body the cassette is mounted on and cassette bodies now come in a very large variety, some of which are less resilient than others, being light alloy rather than a chunky steel item.

Suffice it to say that I've managed to strip one by doing the tight-as-I-can thing.  I yam a big strong lad, see? Both the lock ring and the body had to be replaced as the threads on both got mangled.

Incidentally, this is a problem now recognised by that Hambini chap, who is selling over-engineered lock rings with a greater thread penetration. He offers an additional reason for this greater thread penetration: a tightening of greater than 40 Nm will do more to keep all the individual cogs of the cassette locked as one block so that the notches act together on the freehub splines, reducing the pressure points producing single-cog notching often seen on the alloy versions of a freehub body.

***********

Cassette freeehubs can be relatively easily replaced if damaged and aren't ridiculously expensive unless they're a proprietary design used by a-one o' them £3000-a-set wheel purveyors. But imagine that you strip the threads on a centre-lock disc wheel hub ......

Cugel wrote:

Suffice it to say that I've managed to strip one by doing the tight-as-I-can thing.  I yam a big strong lad, see? Both the lock ring and the body had to be replaced as the threads on both got mangled.

Not THAT hard.

Quote:

Cassette freeehubs can be relatively easily replaced if damaged and aren't ridiculously expensive unless they're a proprietary design used by a-one o' them £3000-a-set wheel purveyors. But imagine that you strip the threads on a centre-lock disc wheel hub ......

Hubs aren't too expensive to replace but it takes a bit of time rebuilding the wheel.

The last couple of Shimano free hubs I have had to replace, big pipe XT (old small pipe would last several rims...) buying the complete hub was cheaper than the freehub, so a new set of cones, bearings, fat pipe spindle and seals for nowt too...

hawkinspeter wrote:

Hubs aren't too expensive to replace but it takes a bit of time rebuilding the wheel.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/rohloff/

hawkinspeter wrote:

Hubs aren't too expensive to replace but it takes a bit of time rebuilding the wheel.

But the free hub can just be pulled off and swapped with a new (steel) one. Add a few grams but no more notches from the cassette. no need to build an entire wheel.

wycombewheeler wrote:

But the free hub can just be pulled off and swapped with a new (steel) one. Add a few grams but no more notches from the cassette. no need to build an entire wheel.

Yes, but Cugel mentioned the possibility of stripping the centrelock side of the hub

Replacement freehubs are easily available for most mid-range to high end wheels/hubs. No need to rebuild (providing you can remove the original freehub and the cassette is not jammed)

Cugel wrote:

.. that Hambini chap, who is selling over-engineered lock rings with a greater thread penetration.

Because, as with so many things, more penetration is always a good thing.

KDee wrote:

Did mention press fit BB...but keep thinking easier to leave to a professional (says a CEng FIMechE).

Them bike shop fitters are of variable quality. You might get a competant one but you might .... not. Also, the rascals give you a Geet Big Bill for doing something you could do better yoursen in a lot less time.  Oh yes they do!

I have two Trek Domane with BB90 press fit bearings. I can change one bearing (you don't usually need to do both at one time) in less than 30 minutes although there is a time-gap in the middle when one must await the setting of the loctite stuffs used to ensure there'll be no creaking or tic after the installation.

It takes about 5 minutes to remove the chain and crankset then another five-ten minutes to remove the bearing to be changed, clean off any murk from the BB shell with denatured alcohol then apply the loctite hardener followed by the loctite itself.

Go away and have a coffee.

Once the loctite is ready, a press is used to install the new bearing. Another ten minutes to put the crankset back, clean everything up then put on the chain.

Leave it for 48 hours without riding to make sure the loctite is fully cured. 

This tool is very well made, costs far less than big-name equivalents but does need two extra nuts locked together and held with a second spanner to ensure the pulling grapple doesn't just turn with the pulling-nut when used.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283904717403?hash=item421a0a325b:g:VvMAAOSwY3...

You don't need the version with the butterfly nut as an ordinary nut turned with a spanner gives more pulling force for bearings that are very stuck-in (perhaps with too much loctite).

The next-cheapest version of such a tool is £50! Then the next one about £90!! The latter does have a nice colour anodizing on it, mind.