Tag: service

#365daysofbiking Gearing up

January 3rd – One of my bikes uses a Shimano Di2 hub gear – an Alfine 705. This is the original Di2 11 speed hub and has its own pros and cons, but on the whole it’s reliable and workmanlike, and apart from a somewhat fiddly oil change when the shifting gets lumpy, requires little in the way of mechanical attention during it’s lifetime.

Generally, the life I’ve found is about 15-25,000 miles. This hub has been through a lot, and more than 3 wheel builds, but I’m happy with the wheel it’s in now, which was why it was so annoying when it suffered a serious failure on Christmas Day. I lost about half the gears which just spun out when selected – 3,4,5, 9 and 11 I think. An oil change and filling with cleaning oil hadn’t helped at all. The hub was knackered.

There’s not much I don’t know about this system; I’ve been using it in different iterations for over a decade and I’ve got to know the tricks and fiddles and advanced maintenance procedures – both by reading manufacturer documentation and by trial and error. The internal mechanism of the hub is easy to remove and change for another – you remove the wheel, take off the changer mechanism, sprocket and disk brake. You then remove the non drive side cone and locknut, then unscrew the plastic retainer and oil seal on the drive side – I have the right tool for this but a strap wrench will do it fine too, but the key bit is it’s a left hand thread. Once it’s off, the whole gubbins will come out, the oil can be cleaned out and a new mechanism can be put back, or the old one repaired and refitted.

There was a snag. The 705 is no longer available, but there is a new version, the 7051. I didn’t want to rebuild the wheel. I scoured fleabay and the web for a 705. No dice. I found a brand new 7051 in Germany for about £250, which is a great price. I poured over Shimano drawings of the two hubs. I decided to risk ordering the 7051 and trying to swap the innards. If they didn’t fit I could always reassemble it and build a new wheel.

In time the hub arrived, and the good news is it fitted exactly the same. On the rare chance that anyone ever reads this wondering if it’s possible to swap the two, yes it is. I swapped the guts, but also the non drive side bearing and oil seal too – be careful popping that out as they’re easy to damage and if no longer flat, oil will leak from the cone.

The 7051 hub has an upgraded clutch, smother shifting and performs better changing under loading. I have to say, fitting it back was a dream, and it runs well. Once the factory stiffness had gone, changes are much smoother and there’s far less clatter when doing so.

The old hub mechanism I plan to dismantle to see what’s gone. Looks like I’ll be spending some time in the garage with the tools…

This post has been created on the off change anyone ever wonders the same thing: I would say this also applies to the non-Di2 cable variants too.

This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2LQizV0
via IFTTT

July 10th – Popping from work into Walsall at lunchtime, it seemed the wasteland a the bottom of Bentley Mill Way had been the scene of a small scrub fire.

I first saw the lone fireman, tending the petrol powered pump extracting water from the canal, then saw the last of the smoke from the lads doing an excellent job, as ever.

These fires won’t harm the scrub much, it’ll soon grow back, but the commons, heaths and patches of wasteland right now are like tinder, and there will be many more such fires across the area if the fine weather continues.

And all the time, the good folk of the West Midlands, and indeed national Fire Service will be on hand to do their utmost to protect lives and property.

Thank you.

May 7th – First decent ride out for a week or to, to be honest. An afternoon spin up through Lichfield, Alrewas and Cotton to Rosliston Forestry Centre for tea and cake, then back via Coton in the Elms, Netherseal, Chilcote, Honey Hill and Harlaston.

A harsh northern was challenging, but blew me home, and the sights were beautiful in the warm sun. The ducks are still about at Coton and if that one doesn’t have the spirit of Elvis in him, I’m a Dutch uncle.

Not sure what I did to offend the striped cat at Whittington, but it was well cross with me…

A lovely ride, marred only by the unwelcoming attitude, poor cake and service at Rosliston: a piece of advice to fellow cyclists – go to the Honeypot instead. Not only was I served heavy, poor cake in a polystyrene takeaway box, but was treated like an irritation at 4:30pm when advertised closing is 5pm, but staff having a break discussing how ‘cyclists shouldn’t be on the road’ made me vow never to give the place my custom ever again. 

January 25th – It perhaps hasn’t become apparent yet to most folk, but to cyclists and those bound to the outdoors, this has been quite a grim winter. 

We’ve had far more frosts this year than last, and consequently, there’s been a lot more salt on the roads. The damp but not terribly rainy conditions have led to a corrosive, goopy, sticky road grime that coats the bike and is taking a steady toll, particularly on the wheels and brakes. 

Investigating a rub tonight, I noticed the corrosion on the disc pads, and the badly grooved disc. Aluminium parts are developing a familiar white bloom. There is surface rust on the exposed bare steel surfaces of pedals and bottom bracket.

When the weather clears, all this will need attending to. 

January 16th – As I neared the crest of Shire Oak hill, it was murky and drizzly and the kind of night you really don’t want to be out in.

There wasn’t much traffic, either, which seemed strange – but I did note the model ‘works buses’ – not these days going to Crabtree or the BRD, but shuttling workers back and forth between the Birmingham and Black Country conurbation and Amazon at Rugeley.

These services run seemingly throughout the day and night and I’d love to know more about them.

October 18th – I also liked how beautiful Walsall Wood was on this greyest of grey Sundays. The trees around the Brookland Road junction look superb – and the church of St. John, this evening with lights on for a service -looked great with the turning leaves in the background.

I felt much better today. I got stuff actually done. Once the black dog settles in it can be the very devil to shift, and at this time of year I’m always susceptible. But in truth, the light nights will return, a new year and new spring will dawn, and I’ll feel the warmth again.

In the meantime, I’ll learn to love the darkness. Sometimes it’s your friend. But it’s like doing a deal with the devil.

There’s a lot of cold, a lot of rough weather and a lot of darkness to come before the next spring.

July 11th – If you fancy a free, breathtaking aerial entertainment display, get your backside down to the Tame Valley Canal, and just look up.

High tension lines run along the canal from a control compound at Ocker Hill to another at Ray Hall, and this interlink is currently undergoing service. Huge scaffold towers and nets span roads, canals and railways, to support lowered lines; engineers scramble and dangle high above from the steel lattice-work, oblivious to the toe-curling peril they appear to be in.

They work quickly and with precision amongst a baffling array of hawsers, catenaries, safety lines and fall arresters, materials and tools being hoisted ip in a sack via a block and tackle hoist. 

And below? I watch, open mouthed at these confident, sure-footed and highly skilled engineers. Whatever they’re paid, it can’t possibly be enough.

January 29th – The rain finally caught me as I left Walsall. The wind had changed, too, and I found myself mashing into driving drizzle and a distinctly cold headwind. Is this the beginning of a cold spell, I wonder?

As usual on rainy days, every good photo was into the wind and therefore impossible. But I did notice the lights of the service station in Shelfield, which always look attractive, but I never stop to photograph it.

It loos so welcoming – I fuss that’s the idea. It’s one of the way markers of my commute – when I see it, I know I’m halfway home.

August 28th – This is an odd thing. This sluice is built into the canal bank, overlooking the Big House in Clayhanger, and was once (and presumably, still is) a drain point for the canal, with the mechanism blocked out of use. I reckoned it must be redundant, as if opened, it would appear to drain onto the garden beneath it. However, in the last few weeks, someone has been and inspected it, removed the plate covering the mechanics, and greased the gears. Perhaps it’s still functional, and doesn’t drain to the open but to some kind of culvert.

Anybody know for sure?