Archive for March, 2010

Ep 15: Replacing swingarm bearings, part 2

Published
by
Waz
on March 29, 2010
in Episodes
. 6 Comments

It’s warming up in these parts and I’m getting closer to putting the swingarm back on my bike. Since Trent made me a linkage bushing in the last episode, I’ve been gathering new bearings and seals, getting the swingarm powdercoated and even fabricating my own chain slider out of a special hard-wearing plastic.

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Some bikes use simple bronze bushings in their various rear suspension linkages and pivots, but many use needle roller bearings. That’s certainly the case with my bike, which mixes caged needle rollers with “full complement” bearings.

Watch the video for all the details, but essentially the full complement bearing is the more compact of the two, capable of carrying higher loads for its size but prone to its fiddly little rollers falling out when handled because there’s no cage around them. Continue reading ‘Ep 15: Replacing swingarm bearings, part 2′

Can’t wait to get spannering again – and maybe do some riding too!

Published
by
Waz
on March 13, 2010
in Beer fridge
. 2 Comments

I’m not quite sure what it is, but my nerves are jangling. Maybe it’s the sunnier, longer and marginally warmer days we’re having in these parts as a nasty winter slackens its grip at last. But more likely it’s my inner biker emerging from a gloomy winter of hibernation.

Through the cold months I’ve actually been questioning my biker side – staring forlornly at my partly dismantled Cagiva with lots of cruddy bits that need attention, inwardly lamenting my lack of proper workshop facilities at home, juggling working on the bike with family life, and even asking myself whether the bike thing is worth my time any more.

Waz's Dawes King Pin folding bicycle from the 1970s

Waz's way of getting through the winter - a vintage Dawes King Pin bicycle from the 1970s. Lesson learned: 1200 grit wet and dry paper soaked in WD40 is great for removing that fine speckly rust from old chrome

I ploughed my way through the winter on my folding bicycle, a veteran Dawes King Pin from the 1970s that someone on Freecycle gave me. I’ve been riding it partway to work and back each day, and actually I’m hooked on cycling now. I even got to put some of Trent’s know-how on wheelbuilding into action by replacing five spokes and truing up the rear wheel. All this pedalling must be doing me some good too, because despite my age carving a deep furrow through the upper 30s I just bought a pair of the same size Levi’s as three years ago. Continue reading ‘Can’t wait to get spannering again – and maybe do some riding too!’