Woo!!!!!

Had my last uni exam today, so came home chilled for a bit as I havent slept yet, realised its a lush day still outside.

Spent a good hour and a half cleaning the winter crap off of the bike. Bit worried about the wheels as you can clearly see the spoke endy bits that go into the rim are quite rusty, and the wheels are not true at all.. real bad wobble, and the spokes all make lovely sounds. like an out of tune piano But... have no money to sort that nor even where to begin if I was D-I-Ying it.

So yeah...

hour and a half cleaning junk. I actually pulled a beast of a twig that had wrapped itself into my chain, and been crushed into the chain links so much that I didnt even notice it until a bit flicked out when I blasted the chain with some fairy liquid and hot water. As I was cleaning it off one of the pants stickers on my bike started to peel off.. the edge came up. So naturally I couldnt leave it like that.

Completely debadged the bike of everything its now just a cool royal blue frame lol.

Then.... decided Id spend some time fitting the bike properly to me. Ive raised the saddle and handlebars and put the saddle further back to get my knee over the peddle, as opposed to in front of.  Took 45minutes and was a pain in the arse to do by myself and when I pulled the handlebars up I was expecting a stem like the saddle stem thing... no no no... its bloody short!!! I pulled it up and a crap load of bits just fell out of it lol. Thankfully I took notice of what fell where and in what order, and managed to get it all back together again, sorted it out, and raised the handlebars up so I didnt feel wobbly when on the saddle. saddle is higher than the handlebars and tilted a bit forward, but it feels good.. Just right or fairly close, will fine tune it if I get aches and pains in the wrong places, but otherwise I think its bang on.

Then......  I remembered I saw some barends on an old bike of mine in the shed. Popped up there with my allen key, and nabbed them. Fitted them on with the aid of some knifeage... and slicage of my fingers and my arm. (Damn sharp knives!) and got them on there. Set the angle so it gave me a comfortable resting spot with more of the weight on the hands for sprinting a little.

Finally... after cleaning up and fixing my speedo again (the battery cover kept falling off) and removing the pump holder that I fitted for a pump that broke the first time I blimmin used it... I went for a quick sprint around my estate.

2 minutes later I felt knackered (my estate itself is on a hill... ) but god... I felt good. Really good. Everything just felt right. Pedals didnt feel as if they were coming up too soon like before, Handlebars with the barends had the right amount of reach on them, and ahhh it just felt brilliant!

Whether it was psychological (spiffing up my bike... putting me in the state of mind like Ive improved it) or actual improvement in fit to my body I dont know, but it just felt... so good.

Got some piccies that Ill show in ere once I change them to jpg, and upload em So stay tuned.

Piccies.

First... gratuitous creamy froth shot.



Mid Washing.



Finished result debadged lol only just didnt take a picture of it after I fitted the barends

Its blooooooo!

If your hands start to hurt, youll likely want to adjust that saddle to perfectly level again as it means youre sliding forward.

Look at them semi horizontal dropouts...when the derailleurs seize up, Im flyin over and makin you a single speed mboy!

While youre at it, as its a steel frame, make sure to loob both the stem and posts as with British weather, aluminum and steel like to chemically weld themselves together.

Its also a good time to check for play in all your bearings. Lock front brake, rock bike for and aft. Any clunking or shifting? Wiggle cranks to check for play. Try moving wheels from side to side in frame to check for loose hubs. If you rode a bit this winter and thats a loose cup n cone bottom bracket, I bet theres a vile paste of grease and road dirt down there. Theres a realson that bad boy has a set of mudguard eyelets.

Looks nice and neat now, Id certainly not be ashamed up building up such a frame to be an urban warrior. Hi-ten steel can survive bunny hops from the top of small financial institutions.

how did you desticker it? i want to do mine

Quote from: brummiehow did you desticker it? i want to do mine

Ive debadged a lot and its usually just a matter of lifting a corner and peeling. Impossible if theyre clearcoated of course. A hair dryer or a heat gun can help. Desticky the mess with paint thinner.

Quote from: brummiehow did you desticker it? i want to do mine

basically the stickers on mine were just that... stickers/vinyl decals. All you have to do is use a breadknife and peel it gently. Have to be careful mind. you will scratch the paint if its not right. it just requires tiny tiny little slides across and just flick it up.

Not sure if the soapy water helped or if the sponge pulling across the edge of the label is why one of them started peeling.

lol @ max making a singlespeed lol if I find myself using a constant gear ratio then Id no doubt turn to you for some advice

Just did the checks you mentioned.

Front brake locked. Not a peep, didnt shift a bit even when fully putting the bike up on the front wheel.

Slight squeak from the back but I think that is from the brakes slipping.

No side to side play on the front at all... slight play in the rear one (how do I fix that?)

Cranks are solid as a rock. if the wheels are locked they dont go forward and back, and they certainly dont wiggle side to side ( These werent lovewrenches either... these were proper yankages! )

Any tips? oh and lube??? like petroleum jelly?? or actual special lube of somekind. I want to get some 3in1 oil for the chain as the fairy liquid... is a damn good degreaser lol dont think very much is in it anymore.

You obviously havent used it much then  :shock:

The modern apollos are shockingly bad.  Use them every day and theyre toast within 18 months.  My mates one has had a new wheel, new BB and 2 new sets of brake pads in the past year, and its all rusted to hell.  This is with keeping it under cover but using it every day.

Ive done say around 230 or so miles on the thing so far. Didnt use it during winter it was just left outside. Ill be using it pretty much every day from now on. Need some damn bolts to fit the damn mudguards I tried fitting today.

Seems to do the job, if all your going on is your mates one, perhaps he was one of a bad bunch.

Also bbs = cheap
Wheels = if you buy decent ones you wont need to replace it as much.
and Brake pads... hes used it every day so either hes using crap ones or hes used them a lot.

Most of those things once fixed have nothing to do with the bike any longer. Fact remains hes still on the same frame after 18 months, and paid what... Ã,£50 for parts.

And its steel.. not stainless. Itll rust

Quote from: M3ta7h3adIve done say around 230 or so miles on the thing so far. Didnt use it during winter it was just left outside. Ill be using it pretty much every day from now on. Need some damn bolts to fit the damn mudguards I tried fitting today.

Seems to do the job, if all your going on is your mates one, perhaps he was one of a bad bunch.

Also bbs = cheap
Wheels = if you buy decent ones you wont need to replace it as much.
and Brake pads... hes used it every day so either hes using crap ones or hes used them a lot.

Most of those things once fixed have nothing to do with the bike any longer. Fact remains hes still on the same frame after 18 months, and paid what... Ã,£50 for parts.

And its steel.. not stainless. Itll rust

Sounds like youre a perfect Halfrauds customer then!

Fact is, my bike(s) were made 20 years before his, recieve considerably more abuse, and have yet to cost me anything in spares.  His bike is not unique; living in Cambridge (which is pretty much pedestrianised) everyone has a bike.  Each year I see hundreds of identical apollos (Outriders last year, CX10s and XS26s this year) and all of them exhibit the same problems of uber rusted drivetrains, rusty rims and seat pillars, scores in the rims where the brake shoes are munching away at the metal, rattly cranks etc.  One mate has spent Ã,£50+ on his Outrider, another has said enoughs enough and binned it in favour of a 8yr old cheapy mountain bike.

Theyre built to a price.  If the price is to your liking then alls well, but with regular use many of them are far more expensive in the long run than buying a nice bike to start with or nabbing a cheap 80s racer off fleabay

[edit] Ã,£50 for parts is ok in your book then?  Bearing in mind these are sold to arts students who dont know their arse from their elbow, that Ã,£50 turns into Ã,£80+ once you pay someone to fit them.  A BB might be cheap, but the fact that it goes tits up in under a year is inexcuseable.  My bike cost me Ã,£40 and was a minter.  I didnt spend a penny on it until I stacked it into a car, whereupon another Ã,£40 was doled out for a similar one.  So even if I was to change my bike (which will last for a helluva lot longer than the halfords ones!) every year, it would still cost me less than an outrider costs to maintain!

LOL, I did 200+ miles last week.

On a bruiser city ride, if the frame fits standard parts, you can just replace things as they break. Heck, I can shop the online sales and get a good hybrid wheeset, bottom bracket, headset, and some tires for a $100 or so.

If the rear wheel wiggle is only a mm or two, Id not worry too much about it. If you do want to pull them apart, youll likely need a double ended 13/15mm cone wrench, a regular wrench, some grease, and a bag of new 25 grade ball bearings. If you repacked them with quality balls now, your cones and cups would likely last a long time. That said, it would take you years, considering your mileage, to do any real damage.

lol... I did 230miles last year because I couldnt be arsed to get on it and go.

To put it into perspective:

This week I intend to do 156.8 miles minimum. That aint running to the shops included in that.

The following week I intend to do the same. With lighter evenings now I have no excuse not to at least try and cycle home from work.

The week after... the same... and the same... and the same after that. For the duration of the summer providing it aint pissing it down as it sucks riding in the rain. Drizzle = fair game, downpour = screw that!

Its not even a mm to be honest.. it just feels like it moved slightly just a touch.

Thing is when I go singlespeed (I will!! some point when I can get up hills around here without having too much of an issue, should hopefully not be too far away a time period either . I cant go in a lower gear than 8th (what teeth gear that is I have no idea) as it is... so I know I can quite happily climb hills in that, I could change the hub over then

A tiny bit of play wont hurt. Much much better than too tight which eats bearing races.

BTW, I do have a geared bike for utility riding.

lol yeaaaa... but singlespeeds are the new humptyflux brackets of today.

Nahhh quite fancy the simplicity of a non derailier bike plus its like going back to school. Just two simple wheels and a single cog. I love it.

Did my first 11.2 mile stretch today, got another one coming up later to get home from work. Oh dear god do my legs burn, had the cycling legs for a bit too. Got off my bike at a crossing and forgot how to walk, legs wanted to move like I was still bloody pedalling, got some giggles from the other people at the crossing lol.

However.. my times improved.

Used to do the 11 miler in just under an hour. did it in 40minutes today, I swear my tinkering had something to do with it, the bike just feels so much better, my bum doesnt hurt so much, my hands dont ache and it just felt so lush.

Really am lucky that most of my ride is in such beautiful surroundings. River to the right of me, forestry commission land to the left. And... I got my first ever "Moooorrnin" from other folks off to work, had a wee race with a lad on a mountain bike (pwned his ass mind lol... we were on a tarmac section my slickish tires really came into play), ah such a wicked feeling.

Addendum: Just had a call from a mate so now the days got even better instead of heading straight home, heading out to a park gonna catch some sun and have some fun! Rah I love this bike!