Hacks / Bodges

Imagine a world in which all the bodgers have an oxy acetylene torch.

Disagree, this bodger just has access to oxy propane

Had a flashback there that hollow bolts were things my adjacent-engineering dad might tell apprentice people to go to the store for, along with asking for a long weight… or a box of 5/8ths holes
But then I am as old as recalling when things were actually made around here

They’re just artisanal now and for extremely specific purposes:

https://donhoubicycles.com/products/brass-barrel-adjusters

(I have some of these and they’re lovely, so not taking the piss too much…)

What's the go-to hack for making this type of cable guide? I've got the bolts and my bike has mounts.

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They’re really neat

Hardly worth a hack to be honest - search for 'bolt on cable guide' or even '5mm p clip' and there are lots of options for a couple of pounds

Thanks. I bolted in a little loop of old inner tube. P clip is a good idea.

So I helped my old man buy an e-bike; during the purchase one of the things I was able to knock down the price over was a broken battery mount... But when we got it home, it was worse than that.

Dodgy fucken frame had off-centre mounting holes! No wonder the 4.6kg battery had wrecked its mount, hanging off to the left by at least five degrees! Took me hours and hours to sort it out.

First, I had to file the top of the mounting bosses (which weren't rivnuts - hydroformed into the tube perhaps?)... They weren't even in a straight line; the file rocked a bit at first over the middle one. Took ages to get them perpendicular to vertical, they were totally on the piss.

The plastic mount was cracked to hell, under a slightly flimsy bit of ally which was all bent; I straightened it out and superglued the mount back together... This alone was totally not going to cut it. I cut a bit of steel to sit snugly in the ally bit, which would work to prevent its edges curling up, and serve as a large angled washer to distribute the clamping force from the ridiculously misplaced bolts.

Then I went to town with the hot glue, securing the ally bit in the plastic and filling the voids in the underside. Mac G5 cases are a great source of beefy ally plate, it's like 3mm thick. I cut a bit to sit under the mount, and stuck it to the bottom with the aid of a heat gun to manage the several sticks' worth of hot glue.

After finagling the holes a bit, this thing was sitting pretty. I was still a bit nervous about hanging all that weight off it though, so I stuck some baking paper around the tube and threw a few more sticks of hot glue at it to create a couple of ridges underneath formed to hug the tube (this was done with the mount spaced up a tad on some washers to ensure it turned out nice and solid).

Now I trust it. Damn thing weighs close to 400g though

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Just now - found this broken teabag with a little tear in it

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Needs moar hot glue

Dodgy fucken frame

No offense but what did you expect from a cheap ass Chinese "Easytry"
I wouldn't let my dad ride this thing

I expected it to be thrown together like crap, but the crazy mount was definitely a curveball. With some spoke tension, and a big rotor and new front brake, it's okay. The fork is pretty shit of course, but I've told him to keep an eye on it and replace it with a solid one when it starts developing slop.

He likes to live on the edge anyway

I was still a bit nervous about hanging all that weight off it though, so I stuck some baking paper around the tube

😢

Did you not get the point of the baking paper, or am I just getting trolled here?

I thought that bit was actually pretty clever

You're sending your old man around town at 20mph with a 4kg battery trussed up on baking paper and hot glue. Who is trolling who?

#rep

I don’t, please explain.

Load-bearing baking paper, clearly.

This is to make it less appealing for thieves, it makes it harder to read that it's an OG Easytry

I assumed it was to make a mould / edge to build the glue up to

The paper is just to keep the glue in place, you'd want to use a thick card for structural work

a tasteful thickness

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When you need the bike for next day but the chain jump on the ring.

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Why not move the wheel?