So I was griping about all the things I have to do and Anders says, you should really just schedule a meeting with yourself, then you could get some work done. And if someone asks to meet you, you can wisely check your calendar and say you have a meeting, or you can say, well, I'll have to move this other meeting. So I booked a meeting with myself Friday morning and actually got a lot done.
The cycle rebuild is going pretty well-- maybe it'll be done inside of a week. I managed to scrub the chain rings in the kitchen sink this morning without getting caught.
The pedal crank arms are held in place by 15 mm bolts recessed inside a threaded hole with a 21 mm diameter. Normal 15 mm socket wrench heads have an outer diameter of 22 mm, so they won't fit, and you can't get enough purchase on the bolt trying to squeeze in a crescent wrench straight on. I asked in a bike shop and they said they could special order a tool for me for a small fortune. No thanks I said. So this morning I took a millimeter off the outside diameter of the socket head with a grinding wheel, took it into the workshop and got the crank arms off in no time.
Left to do: Clean and repack pedal bearings and headset, finish touch up painting, remount wheels, clean chain, rewrap handlebars, road test.
This is another great improvisation of yours.
ReplyDeleteShimano moved to 14mm bolts to avoid this problem, I suppose. Then 6mm and 8mm, then 10mm -- it's crazy -- standards are dead.
Every time I've bought a new bike in the last few years, I've been forced to buy new tools to work on it. Stick with the old stuff.
Thanks. I am sure I have done everything wrong like used grease when I should have used thread glue and vice versa. Still I am really impressed by this bike -- in part because everything works, reliably, unlike the 10 speed I had as a kid. The bike forces me to be a better rider. I need to build up my endurance.
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