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Just bought secondhand bike need advice
After lurking for a couple of days I'd like some advice. I've spent
=A335 on a used Dawes Sterling (Mans), its about 8 years old, and has been well used but not totallly thrashed. It needs a good clean, and the derailiers seem to work OK but are pretty gunked up. I think one tyre is the original, the brake cables seems to have been replaced (but not recently). I just put a ladies gel saddle on it. (I am female) My last bike (some time ago) was an extremely heavy and ancient 3 speed (sturmey archer) Triumph. Now that I could strip down - this, I'm a bit clueless. What's the best way to clean the derailier of its gunk. Was thinking parafin or WD40 then relubribating. Any other immediate tasks I should undertake? I could get it serviced but I want to relearn how to do this myself. I'm not totally happy with the handlebars, having only ridden situp and begs before. They are typical drop handlebars, not the weird multi shape but I find them a bit awkward. The stem they attach to also extends them out from the frame horizontally by about 2 inches, which is probably a bit too much of a reach for me. Any advice on swapping the bars or the stem, or will I get used to it.. I am going to buy the Zinn Repair Book but want to get cracking. Advice much appreciated. Emma |
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#4
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wrote:
After lurking for a couple of days I'd like some advice. I've spent £35 on a used Dawes Sterling (Mans), its about 8 years old, and has been well used but not totallly thrashed. It needs a good clean, and the derailiers seem to work OK but are pretty gunked up. I think one tyre is the original, the brake cables seems to have been replaced (but not recently). I just put a ladies gel saddle on it. (I am female) My last bike (some time ago) was an extremely heavy and ancient 3 speed (sturmey archer) Triumph. Now that I could strip down - this, I'm a bit clueless. It'll be easier to work on this bike once you get the hang of it. What's the best way to clean the derailier of its gunk. Was thinking parafin or WD40 then relubribating. Remove its cage back plate by undoing the jockey wheel bolts, and take jockey wheels apart if possible. Clean all derailleur parts with parafin or WD40 as best as you can; lube pivots with oil; lube jockey wheel bushings (rollers in the middle) with grease or oil. All this is much easier when the chain is removed first, by the way. Any other immediate tasks I should undertake? I could get it serviced but I want to relearn how to do this myself. I would service the hubs & headset, and grease seatpost and handlebar stem shaft, but that lot might not need doing /immediately/. The bike will most likely be safe to ride if the wheels are reasonably round, bolts are tight and bits aren't falling off it :-) I'm not totally happy with the handlebars, having only ridden situp and begs before. They are typical drop handlebars, not the weird multi shape but I find them a bit awkward. The stem they attach to also extends them out from the frame horizontally by about 2 inches, which is probably a bit too much of a reach for me. Any advice on swapping the bars or the stem, or will I get used to it.. It'll be worth persevering for a while in case you do get used to the bars & stem. Try different angles and heights. Definitely try a different stem before abandoning the whole lot, anyway. Then perhaps even different drop bars before giving up on the idea of drops altogether, if it comes to that. (Look out for 3T Morphe bars). Before buying a new stem, measure the extension from centre of top bolt to centre of bars. These two sites might be useful: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/ http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml -- aimed at shop mechanics, this one does include a lot of advanced jobs that you may never have or want to do, but has some good basic info as well. ~PB |
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On Thu, 14 Apr, Pete Biggs wrote:
All this is much easier when the chain is removed first, by the way. If you remove teh chain, the easiest way to clean it is put it in a glass jar with some solvent and shake. After you've removed teh chain, you can leave the gunk to settle, decant off teh clear solvent and use it next time. The solvent can be almost anything - mine is now mostly a mix of meths and white spirit, I think. regards, Ian SMith -- |\ /| no .sig |o o| |/ \| |
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Ian Smith wrote:
If you remove teh chain, the easiest way to clean it is put it in a glass jar with some solvent and shake. After you've removed teh chain, you can leave the gunk to settle, decant off teh clear solvent and use it next time. The solvent can be almost anything - mine is now mostly a mix of meths and white spirit, I think. Depends on how dirty it is. If you end up with dirty mucky looking solvent you need to repeat with fresh solvent. Otherwise that grit laden solvent is inside the links where it will dry leaving its grit to grind away at the pins and bushes and accelerate wear. Most people worry about a chain looking clean whereas it the parts that you can't see that really need to be clean Tony |
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Richard wrote:
Petrol is also a very good cleaner, but obviously don't get naked flames near it [1] and dispose of it responsibly (ie, not down the drain!). Fire and explosion are the obvious hazards of petrol, but not the only ones. The fumes are also far more toxic than those of many alternative solvents. -- Dave... |
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On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:48:47 -0700, emmakane wrote:
[snip] Emma Hi Emma Firstly some of the posts have recommended using petrol to clean your bike bits. Don't! Petrol is very flammable and will actually penetrate some parts too well leaving no residual oil. Use GT85 which is similar to WD40 but much cheaper. Give all the mucky stuff -- front mech, rear mech, chain, chainrings, and the cassette cogs -- a good spray with GT85 then afterwards wash all bits with hot soapy water (washing up liquid). Use rubber gloves to protect your hands. J cloths and old tooth brushes and are useful, too. Being female you will have a problem with a man's bike. Men have longer arms but shorter legs than women. Women's backs also bend in a slightly different place to men, which also affects how far you can reach forward on the bike. You've already discovered that the handle bars are a bit far away (and maybe a bit low). Since the h/bar stem is already very short, it may affect the handling of the bike if you fit a shorter stem. You could experiment with putting a shorter stem that slopes upwards to bring the h/bars closer and higher (cheapest option). And maybe getting handle bars that bend backwards towards you. But then you would have to get new brake levers and maybe gear levers (more expensive). You would probably be better off getting a second hand women's touring bike. But you'd pay a lot more than 35 quid. Seek out some other women cyclists and see what they are riding and if any are the same height as you try their bikes. HTH Bin |
#10
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In article , bin wrote:
Firstly some of the posts have recommended using petrol to clean your bike bits. Don't! Petrol is very flammable and will actually penetrate some parts too well leaving no residual oil. Use GT85 which is similar to WD40 but much cheaper. WD40 is cheaper if you buy a five litre bottle with a hand sprayer instead of aerosols. |
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