Training to be DIY mechanic trains your mind to be meticulous and detailed

Wheels of Happiness

This post has maintained that sports and business are similar in approach   you have to train,  you  have observe a process, you have to have a goal, you have to prepare your inputs, study your processes to improve your ride and strength.   You have to watch what you eat and many more.

Same with business.  Above you all, you have to be passionate.

Same with being DIY mechanic.  As I disassembled the Campy crank, I have to observe very well the sequence of removal (to aid me in reassembly)  observe what is abnormal with normal.  I observed the bearing and the axle to be grimy and filled with grit.  There were gaskets that are probably interfering with the rotation of the crank

I had to be meticulous and observant.  Same as in business.  If it is failing, I have to know what are the factors that cause it to fail.  

I know I have continue doing this, ie being vigilant of what can go wrong, Otherwise, I I  will wreck the bike

Cleaning and regreasing of Campy crank

Wheels of Happiness

I met Mario Toledo, my best mechanic,  yesterday at a mountain trail road and hastily I consulted the campy crank, (the bearing of which was just replaced)  which has not be been rotating smoothly.  He advised that I should disassemble, clean, and regrease.

Which I did today.  Removal of the 10mm crank bolt (and reinstalling is a challenge).

True enough the crank axle is dirty and the non drive bearing is a little bit sticky.  So I cleaned the crank axle the bearing, and the crank shell. Generously regreased the bearing and the axle with synthetic lighter grease.   How could they all be so grimy after just three months?   Its good that the bearings were still in good shape.

Now the crank now turn faster and smoother.  I must have lost 10-15 watts with the dirty 

Why ape Tadej for 165 mm crank arm

Wheels of Happiness

Many attribute part of faster Pogi on shorter 165 mm.  It is one style of Pro that we should copy.

Advantages

1.  More stability

2.  Less joint stress

Mine is 170 mm.  

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Should you ape Pogi by using shorter cranks?

Wheels of Happiness Pogi seems to be leaving behind his competitors because of shorter canks - 165 mm. Could it be? I use 170 mm. Is 5 mm difference material?

Constant repairs, upgrade on S works now makes it a darling bike

Wheels of Happiness

S works carbon frame, venge vias bike was a least preferred bike because of many challenges:   weak brakes, untrued wheels, noisy hubs  Non functioning sti and RD

I held the bike since 2016 and was a Peter Sagan model.

However I strived hard to make this A-1

1.  To align the wheel, I researched YT and had 5.5 socket wrench sanded out to be a tool to align the

      Cosmic wheel set.  No one dared touch the alignment because there was no tool.  With the tool, it be-

      came an ordinary alignment job.  Cheap.  No need to bring this to Greenhill's.

2.  I had new tires 25mm fitted;

3.  For the  SRAM red STI i tried to get BN 10 speed STI.  Fortunately Mario Toledo repaired the broken barrel drum and found the problem to kinked cables which he replaced

4.  As for the crank, disassembled this, cleaned  regreased this.  However the crank bolt kept coming off

     A stronger push on the 14 mm made sure it would not get loose again

5.  Centered the V brake and had a barrel adjuster for the rear brake to get this finely adjusted

6.  Disassembled  the rear hub repaired the pawls, regreased the bearing and oiled the pawls.  Spent             some  time perfecting the pre load and centering the wheel in the bike

But finally got things right.  It now runs as smooth as a better.  And is equal to or better than Pinarello 

Avoid using your bike in the rain or flooded area; be sure to disassemble and remove grit and rust afterwards

Wheels of Happiness

Went to Mario Toledo to have my expensive RB serviced.   I thought that it was due to for servicing since it has been 5 years since it was built.   

You only need a 10 mm hex to remove the crank assembly (for Campy) But the difficulty was due to it being stuck and a lot of convincing (pounding softly) was needed.  There were lots of mud at the spindle and the left bearing was busted.  

This must have been caused by the 400 km bike to Bicol because the first 2 days was rained out.    

So he advised that the crank bolt must be removed reinstalled periodically or that crank servicing will be made more frequent.

The rear wheel also had slight play.   It turned out that an end cap needed tightening.   

Temptation to go one by

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines

4.10.2021

There is a growing temptation for me to go one by:

Why:

1.  It is trending

2.  It adds to the beauty of the bike -  cleaner and "maangas"

3.  It makes the bike lighter by 300 to 600 grams (you remove the shifter and the fd and 2 other chain rings..   

1.  Convert my crank with 104 bcd to one one by by buying a Deckas chain ring.   That cost from P189 to to P219.  With number of teeth from 30 to 38.  And available in multiple colors - gold, red, black green.  

2.  Get well known brands:  deore  or SRAM that costs P4,000 for Shimano (may 2 by na rin)  to P7,000.

3.  Or get  Ragasa, Sagmit (down to P2,200 each with bottom bracket all ready   You can convert this to 2 by.  Its lightweight  about 700 grams

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxrZ0a4oW8

A popular GS that is value for money and used by masses of cyclists is not without its defect

Wheels of Happiness
Rizal Philippines
August 20, 2018

Epic failure of an 11 speed model Ultegra cranks


This post made link to an article which  enumerated the list of winning  framesets  at recent TDF.  All of a sudden there was a query/comment as to winning GS at each stages.  Of course that it is an unfair question because I am not a witness to TDF, nor do this post have data on the query.

Obviously the commentator is pro that Japnese brand.  Yet data shows that for the entire TDF history the winning brand is from Italy 41 as against only 7 for the Japanese brand.   I might speculate that many people worldwide are using the affordable Japanese brand.

But if you have used the Italian brand, you will not use any other brand because of its beauty and superior performance brought about by long learning curve (manufacturing and quality prowess)

The Japanese brand is also not without its defects like crank parts separating from the other crank parts as reported    NB.   We are not brand bashers.  But hindi perfect ang Japanese brand na ito...

Musing on S hollow tech

That is why the cranks now are wider rather than round.

Be sure that your tensioner bolt is tight if you have outboard/compact crank

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
May 10, 2017

Yesterday, I got a tensioner bolt at Bike Parts Phil.  I got for Php 300.00 its brand is CNC 20 mm ID.   I lost the tensioner bolt fo the SAVA Mtb and the left arm fell on the road.   This is the second time this happened to me.  That is the weakness of the outboard crank.  The tensioner bolt gets loose and you lose it.  The other time, I had a machine shop make a new one for me at almost the same cost, and much lower quality.

Replacement is available at bike parts ph.

So if you lose your tensioner bolt you are assured you can find a replacement.

N. B.    After nearly a week, I lost the tensioner again.  The crank, a Sava brand must have problems

Pay Close Attention to the Driveline

Bike and Save the Earth

If there is anything that you must pay attention to in your bike, it is your drive line:   your shoes, your cleats, the pedal, the crank, the chain ring, the chain, the sprocket and the rear wheel, its hub and bearings.  They are the ones constantly subjected to wear and do a lot of constant repetitive cyclical motion when   you ride.

For instance, if your current cycling shoes weigh 600 grams and you can buy one that is 400 grams.  You multiply the weight loss per pedal stroke as savings in effort/energy.  Say you pedal  5000 times during your ride, youi have saved a total of  l,000,000 grams or l,000 kg or a ton of effort.  That is substantial.  The pedal weight, crank arm length (l70, l72.5. 175) are critical.

There was a champion biker used to 172.5 crank length.  However he heard everybody shifted to l75, and he shifted to l75 on a raced day.  All was well until the last l0 km when his legs gave way under him.  He could not pedal anymore and all the vigor was gone.  The 2.5 mm difference in length, though how tiny it was blew his effort to be first.  2.5 mm extra crank length multiplied by number of revolutions would have mean great energy effort more for the poor cyclist and former champion