Tool porn

Clean once, hang on wall, walk everywhere.

Clean once, hang on wall, drive everywhere.

Skip the cleaning by driving it back from the shop you bought it from

Of course. I need to stop buying dirty used bikes.

what's wrong with the partner's hair dryer ?

I've been considering a cordless heat gun; being tethered to mains sucks a lot more than you might realise.

When I got a TS100 (these days go for a Pinecil) it was a game-changer, before I even realised how much better I could make it by adding a switch to my battery clip to be able to chuck out the full 20V instead of the regulated 12V it came with. And when I found a hot glue gun on Temu to clip onto my DeWalt batteries, another definite game-changer.

It's a whole new world in the same way that a miscellaneous collection of bits and bobs is all but useless jumbled in a box up on a shelf, but once you put a day or two into into sorting it, all those screws and springs and whatnots you thought would come in handy one day actually can.

I’d like to maximise lifespan, so cleaning and lubing to avoid grinding sand and grit into these parts makes sense.

Sheldon Brown had a joke article about the proper way to clean a chain, where he completely disassembled it. The serious part was that you can't really clean a chain; any grit that's worked its way inside is most likely going to stay there no matter how many times you rinse and shake it...

My philosophy is to keep on wiping a newly-lubed chain until you're sick of wiping it, and then wipe it some more after riding, until crap doesn't stick to it. Then keep brushing it clean with a towel rag until the next lube.

And if you ride in the wet, have a wet weather bike with mudguards, and using a heavy chain lube like Chain-L. And stay the fuck away from sand.

And replace your chains before 1/2% elongation, if you have expensive chainrings and/or cassettes. Throw the biggest pulleys you can fit in your derailer so you have a longer chain which wears a couple of percent slower.

And if you have a 10s drivetrain, use an 11s chain - same internal width, but the narrower outer width forced a shift from stamped integral bushings in the inner plates to separate pressed-in bushings which thanks to their sharp corners have a larger bearing surface.

I only ride my 12 speed mtbs these days. They come back covered in sandy mud. So most of your advice doesn’t really apply.

IceToolz 67A5 £20, usually £34

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/bike-maintenance-c10/workshop-tools-c129/pro-shop-cable-spoke-cutter-p28935

This was my favourite from this vid.

https://jagwire.com/products/tools/pro-cable-crimper-and-cutter

But there is a lot of pleasure behind a man talking about some of his favourite tools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwCgfQyz-BM

Having stopped waxing because I can't be arsed with so many different bikes, I mostly just deal with stuff when it's noisy. Wipe, apply ceramic lube and ride again until the noise annoys me again and reapply lube. Thinking about that, I probably should ditch my Squirt lubes since it'll be a while before I start waxing chains again. Need to get back to n-1...

Mods, someone has hacked @hippy account.

Which bit of that ramble makes you think it's not me? I thought there was a heavy vibe of "meh" in it. My chatgpt overlord has sent me back to the drawing board.

Getting rid of bikes. This is out of character.

I really have been trying to downsize for the last year. I've got rid of two Inbreds, the CX bike, the Condor and probably others I've forgot. (un)fortunately I've also bought a Crux (which is now with Scherrit to get Di2 installed), the Scott dualie... a Surly Ogre :S

In July, two of our older carbon road bikes are going to join the Tripster in semi-retirement in Poland so that'll free up some space.

The plan was that the Crux would (now it's might) replace the Mason Resolution for road bike duties.

A Runwell Drip is in the house. Feels so nice in the hand. Result.

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That looks like it'd be as sexy to use as it looks. I don't need one. No, really, I don't. Honestly. Srsly.

Runwell Drip

Genuine PORN !!!! Did you buy from Japan ? If so please tell, what are the additional costs to get to the UK ?

Canada Customs doesn’t even look at stuff I get from Japan.
Your experience might differ.

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$30.99 delivered here, which is around £20

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Actually a bit less

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Liz got it from Freshtripe £20 plus P&P for me.

Wera “Safe” torque wrenches let go when the set torque is reached. No over torquing possible.
Is this a common feature? My Snap-on doesn’t have it.

Is this a common feature?

No

I’m pretty sure the 1000nm and 1500nm torque wrenches at work do that. We have clicky ones, dial ones and some which have like an over-centre mechanism which let go when you reach the torque.

It occurred to me the other day that Parkside may have tried to get a flavour of Facom in their logo...

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