Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

That's not a triple mech and because that's a Campy (sue me!) there's no b tension screw to take up the slack...

Just don't go small small, no one ever needs that ratio. Also big big.

there's no b tension screw to take up the slack

They don't take up the slack, they put the mech in the right place to work best with the cassette. Plus those campag ones do have a screw for that, it's just kinda underneath and pushes the cage out more, and is fully in in the photo.

Haven't actually tried yet but I think "chain too short' might be the right answer. Will check and report back. Thanks!

Yes it does, try it and let me know ;)

My cheese grater can wipe my arse but that's not what it was made for.

Kinky ...

Speaking of said screw, is it worth me faffing about with it in any way or should I just leave it screwed all the way in? No sure it'll make much difference where chain length is concerned, mind.

thanks, this is helpful. i'll email middleburn if a similar kind of axle-mixing is possible that wi offers.

Is there a forum recommended utrasonic cleaner?

I bought one for about £60. It was crap. I then read that they only really work well if you buy an expensive one.

Basically, you’ll get a chain and cassette almost as clean with a container, degreaser and a toothbrush and that’s much cheaper.

I got one for about 40 quid, it's also pretty crap

Thanks both, I'll save my money in that case.

I think the issue is that as well as having less capacity, the smaller consumer units also have a lot less power.
We've got one at work which is pretty effective but it's microwave sized and emits an ear piercing noise when it's on

Bun all this and buy a proper parts washer. Oh my god, look at that, there’s one for sale here!

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/383515/#comment16854193

If anyone want's rid of their ultrasonic cleaner, I'll take it off their hands. I saw a Guinness experiment I want to try and can't be arsed buying a new one for it. Would just need to be able to stand a pint glass up in it.

Hi. Any tips for cold setting forks? I've got a weird set that are 80mm spacing (not squished - meant to be like this) and want to spread them to 100mm. @sacredhart had the useful advice to do it with threaded rod and nuts/washers, unwinding slowly. Any other tips for getting them straight / wheel well aligned etc?

Threaded rod will give you some control over it, but you'll probably just need to keep checking the alignment with a known true wheel. You'll need to push the metal past 100mm to account for the elasticity, obviously. I'd maybe also stick a dropout alignment gauge on them once you're done.

Raleigh Twenty or something?

In my experience, forks that are that size usually aren't the sturdiest of things so there's no need for the threaded bar (not that I think this is a very good technique for cold setting anyway*) and you can usually manipulate them pretty easily without anything beyond maybe a firmly bolted down vice.

*I feel like cold setting often involves, as TooTallTim says, going beyond the point you want to be at to account for spring back. I like to 'feel' what the steel is doing which you don't get if you are using something to spread the ends like that.

It's lateral symmetry/alignment which is the challenge. As @TooTallTim says using a known true wheel will help. If you have a hole in the bottom of your fork crown and can source the exact right diameter tube to slot into it then you create a third, central leg to compare the two fork legs against. I did this on my tandem forks.

I'm just trying to remember what I did when cold setting one of my old frames - I don't think I even measured it, just stopped when it was "enough". Pretty sure I just pulled it with a foot stood on the other side

For spreading frame rear ends I lay the frame down with the side I want to work on facing up. Pad the headtube and, if worried about paint, the seattube and whichever dropout is up. I have a long plank of wood that goes under the dropout and on top of the seattube, then put other end of plank up on a stool. Frame will be resting on the headtube. You can push on the plank/frame if it's a skinny stay road frame, sit across the plank or even stand on it for more solidly built frames.

Flip the frame and repeat. I hold a known straight edge (broom handle) against the headtube and seattube and measure from dropout inside face to broom handle to ensure it's even.

To reduce spacing you work on the side closer to the ground, plank goes outside the dropout and above the seatube and apply force as before.

Edit: pulling with a foot on the otherside works but I feel like you have to be pretty forceful and if it suddenly starts to go you're probably so committed to pulling that you'll have a 3 foot rear spacing before you know it. Using the plank as a lever feels like it allows me to add weight/force more incrementally if that makes sense?

Forks are, in my experience, either a lot easier or a lot more difficult. Skinny legged ones you can just hold the steerer in the vice (in a tube block) and manipulate each leg or hold the leg in the vice using a soft jaw and push/pull n the steerer but burlier forks just try to twist. I need to do some (more) cold setting the triplane fork on my ssmtb but it's got 28.6mm Columbus disc legs and the legs are quite offset from the steerer so holding it is a nightmare. It's needed doing since I built it but I just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe if I clamp a stem and some old bars and 90deg to where they should be that would keep it from twisting and I can apply weight to each leg to set them in.

To add to that, I checked it with a dropout alignment gauge and a frame alignment tool afterwards and it was spot on, so I must be amazing at it

cheers for all these. helpful tips and I definitely don't fancy myself at being able to do it anything like you can @M_V and @TooTallTim ... it's also beginning to sound like a need a few more bits to do it properly, which is making building a wheel with an 80mm spaced hub sound a little more attractive at the moment.

I built a 74mm hub up for my Dahon before I sold it. Wasn't too bad, bearings were tiny though. Respacing the fork wasn't an option.

Hmm
Shimano
I am confused, welcome any ideas
Tiagra triple f/m
Acera flat bar triple shifter
Can’t get the f/m trimmed so as it’s sits nicely across the shift range and mostly when dropping from the big ring down it slips to the third
What on earth am I doing wrong? :(