Tooled Up & Misdirected Blame

 

With hedge-clipping season in full swing, my attention turned to tyres, tubes and crucially tyre levers. The latter are largely forgotten until we're crouched by the roadside on a cold and rainy night, trying to release a particularly tight bead. With this in mind, Weldtite has sent me their 2.0 tyre levers and a rather nice looking twenty-function multi-tool.

The latter's design is reminiscent of the Crank Brothers M19 with its knurled side plates for grip-even with sweaty palms or wearing winter gloves. I’ve an M17 still serving, it’s a little world weary now, the chain tool long expired and a bent (but still operational) 3m Allen key.  One of the more interesting features-a welcome addition in principle is the disc brake rotor tool.  

They also sent me the smaller version of their Rubber Workshop Matt with Magnet. The Rubber ensures it won’t slide around and the magnetic layer ensures you’ll foil rogue felines looking to play ball bearing billiards. I’ve gone for the smaller size since it’s portable, meaning I can do small jobs, like headset and hub overhauls outside, should need, or fancy take me. The relatively thick rubber will protect surfaces, especially if exerting force- say exorcising a stubborn pedal, or hub.

Having tweaked the Spyre into what I believed was sweet submission, I was still experiencing a faint, intermittent tinkling. I decided a quiet byway was the best place to conduct a thorough troubleshoot.  Monitoring the rotor and pads with sporadic acceleration confirmed this wasn't the culprit.

A gentle tug of the cassette revealed some minor, but palpable play, suggesting the freehub was the most likely culprit. Post-ride investigation confirmed this. Murphey's Law also revealed the spare XT laced hoop was also showing signs of isolated play. Yup, another freehub bit the dust.

Not having replacement freehubs and hub bearings to hand, I decided the most efficient use of time and energy was to leave both wheels with Madgetts Cycles. This was an opportunity to get everything checked ahead of winter, while I tackled other pressing matters.

Decent bike shops are worth their weight in gold. Just because we can do the jobs, it’s not always convenient, or the best use of our time.  I’d have my wheels sorted and ready by the time it took two compatible freehubs to arrive in the post. 

All this had me pondering the acquisition of a newer XT hub running a centre lock disc and having that built into a wheel, laced three-cross for some added strength. Not that I'm unduly heavy or have a less than compassionate riding style, but greater stress is placed upon the rear wheel, especially with a disc brake.

I'd contemplated 36 spokes, but chances are I'll stick with a 32, since this would allow me to use an existing rim.  The most likely candidate being that presently hosting the Halo Spin Doctor, which has done a very modest mileage.  During this phase, I spotted this 36-hole Shimano FH-RM70 going for proverbial pennies. Loosely comparable with Alivio, it’s simple and rugged, although will benefit from a really beefy grease to keep winter’s worst out. Designed for rim brakes, its most likely something I’d have built into a spare wheel for Denise.   

Meantime, I’d noted Ursula’s chain was closer to .6, so replaced it, along with one of the cassettes, since a new chain will only kick up on new sprockets and vice-versa. I’ve reverted to wax while the autumn seems fair-weather, although chances are I’ll default to the Weldtite All Weather Weldtite All Weather Lube | cycling-not-racing . Weldite have also sent me their Wet Lube, which I’m advised is a successor to their Extreme Wet WELDTITE TF2 EXTREME WET CHAIN LUBRICANT .

The Extreme wet was a mix of ISO oils and specialist additives, whereas the wet consists of (detail). While stodgy wet lubes will attract dirt ad grit, which left unchecked, can significantly shorten the lifespan of drivetrain components, they still have their place.  Aside from staying put in really harsh conditions, they double as passable grease substitutes on fasteners- stem bolts, mudguard and rack, bottle screws and cleats being prime examples. A drop into electroplated Allen heads will also fend off the dreaded orange taint.

Too heavy for cables, a drop on the ends where they enter the ferrule will help seal the elements out. Another useful product that works well on cables is Finish Line 1 Step Cleaner and Lube TEST & REVIEW: FINISH LINE 1-STEP CLEANER AND LUBE. Marketed primarily as a chain lube, the aerosol version is particularly effective-I’ve witnessed it bring gummed up shifters back from the brink with a couple of blasts. The solvent component does the cleaning and leaves a light lube-much sturdier than a maintenance spray behind.

In a pinch, a few drops of wet lube will also keep quick release skewers mobile-at least until you can get to some decent grease. I’ve been fairly impressed by the Juice Lubes Slick Juice Juice Lubes Slick Juice Low Friction Gre | cycling-not-racing which is kind to rubberised and composite components, so can be applied most components and surfaces.  Obviously not for carbon and other materials requiring a gripper paste.

Right, since we’re creeping ever closer to the wetter months, I’ll leave you with Steve’s review of the Leatt MTB Hydradri 5.0 Jacket Leatt MTB Hydradri 5.0 Jacket | cycling-not-racing