Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

Is it not one of these:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/jtek-stepped-chrome-ferrules-37-mm-insert-for-5-mm-gear-outer-pack-of-4/

Cheers, appreciate your help

they are in fact fairly rubbish. Ive had 2 go at the overlap on the tube and others have reported similar.

I think that’s what I have at the moment and it’s not right. This feels like it needs a different sort of shape. I suppose the sensible thing to do is to go to the LBS and see what they have.

Which 1/8 track chains have replaceable / reusable pins? If you have KMC knowledge that would be extra useful. Cheers!

the rear pair have worn extremely quickly vs the front. Anyone else had this, or am I doing something wrong?

I'd say the thing you're doing wrong is using your rear brake more than your front. The front should be the first one you go for, and pretty much only use the rear sometimes to tighten your line when cornering, or for the most minor slowing if you have a brake on the back with less advantage, like a single pivot sidepull or a canti adjusted to maximise modulation.

The reason I say this is that your emergency braking reflex should be all about modulating the front brake and balancing your weight on the front tyre; anything else is a distraction from the main game.

I'd even recommend riding without a rear brake for a while.

If you do that on a MTB, you crash. Rear is to control your speed. The front is to stop.
Brake before the corner, or the bike stands up if you brake in it. If you brake hard with a front brake and lose traction, you not only can't stop but also can't steer either.

For those reasons, I think rear pads should be the first to wear out

And don't lean.

Do you bike polo? ;)

That's the default setup for 99.9%.

If you have KMC knowledge that would be extra useful

KMC B1 is the most old fashioned looking, no peening or mushrooming of the pins to make rejoining questionable. In the olden days, all chains were like that.

These days, if I need a track chain to have an adjustable length, I use two spring clip master links and a selection of short insert lengths, e.g. 96 links with one master link gives 98 links with two master links and a single inner link or 100 links with two master links and a stub consisting of inner-outer-inner

Thing is that the last set of pads I had all wore at an even rate 🤷

Removed my back wheel and found a rusty patch due to tyre rub... as I'm typing this likely due to riding with a flat thwb pushing it home half an hour with a flat. Grotty looking spidery bit under the paint, doesn't appear to be a crack from giving it a good tap. Off to cover the rusty bit with nail varnish for now, owt else preventative I could/should do other than use rust converter and repaint?

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Old Style Chains

As Tester says all chains used to have pins which projected a little way beyond the side plates, and this is true for 3/32" as well as 1/8". I prefer to stick to this type for my own use.

My method for splitting/ joining is to use a Reynolds 'Elite' chain tool (pic below) which pushes the pin just clear of the side plate so that the whole male link can be removed (just as if it were a spring link).

To rejoin I use a 'dimple' punch (see pic) to refit the side plate and then, supporting the chain on something solid, I give a few sharp taps to the pins of that link to spread them a little.

I don't usually bother with spring links and (touch wood) I haven't had any failures so far.

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Use a cold galvanizing paint, hi in zinc so the rust won't get any worse in a few years

I do motorbike chains with a ball pien hammer. Not had a failure, and I don't use soft links usually. As have had issues with soft links in the past

I don't usually bother with spring links and (touch wood) I haven't had any failures so far.

You don't need to if you're just joining a chain once. I like them for changing gear, which with the short track ends on the T3 often means changing chain length. Also makes it quick and easy to take the chain off for cleaning. If you're going to rivet your chain rather than using a master link, just do it in a different place every time and you have way more cleaning cycles than you could ever need without punching the same rivet twice 🙂

BITD I used to break and rejoin chains with a Rivoli chain tool....

Rivoli

As we all did. The Rivoli and similar chain tools have a secondary anvil position for doing the final clearancing operation in a controlled manner (about an eighth of a turn) rather than the "few sharp taps" @clubman has to employ due to the primitiveness of his old tool🙂

I now know it has a secondary anvil position :) better than putting your thumbs on the chain and bending it lol.

Thank you all!

Whoops, forgot to consider the pads may not be used on the road.

I don't polo, but I used to run my brakes American style before realising that was wrong. Switched to the proper way round after cycling for thirty years (so I could use the RD and front brake with one hand, not to mention shift and brake with one move on STIs), and my bike handling went to shit.

Then I built this old rat rod thing with a bit of a hipster vibe to it, modern parts on an old frame, left it without a rear brake for a while. That got my neurons wired up right... Realised that I barely need the rear brake, but there was the odd occasion when I really missed it.

It's good to know just how much you can push it regarding the grip on the front tyre.

There are still anvil like chain tools for motorbikes drive but most are shit.

The cam chain ones are quite specialised tho.

Experienced this slightly weird thing for the first time this morning. After a sketchy descent with lots of braking I heard and felt a once-per-wheel-revolution scrubbing noise from my back (rim) brake.

It looks like the brakes had worn off a burr of alloy from the rim and wedged it into the wear indicator track. It came out with a bit of picking from the point of a small file.

Anyone had this happen to them? Any cause for concern?

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Not quite but little flecks of metal like that often find their way into brake pads