Well a wee bit of an update. I managed to catch an earlier train home than normal today so went straight out the back to the bike.

Got the buckled wheel off, bloody hell... tacod doesnt cover it, im amazed the spokes didnt go "PING!" with just the weight of the bike on it, its actually deformed most of the spokes in the wheel the wheel actually has an S bend in it, couldnt see it with the tyre on, and I think the tyre is stiff enough that it actually helped the rim keep its shape, as soon as the tube was let down... it just creaked and went crazy.

Popped into Halfords, mainly because I wasnt aware of it but my local one has pretty much an entire store dedicated to bike gear and we drove past it on the way to the LBS cornershop thing

Wouldnt have trusted the kids there to give me any advice but the selection of kit there is pretty good, all bikehut (halfords own brand) and shimano however so not top end gear, but they have all the bits and pieces youd need to fix the little stuff.

So yeah went there once, to buy some wheel skewers, bought... went back.. fitted them.. brilliant! wheel on the bike. (Ã,£9.99)

Fixed my speedo cable with ample use of insulation tape and some twistage.

Then looked at the front brake cable, wasnt as bad as I thought damage wise itd basically pulled through the caliper when the bars went all the way around, so stripped the nipple off of the end, and by some miracle, the bolt that holds the cable was still in the caliper held in by a bit of nipple left in there.

So popped back to halfords, picked up a bag of cable ends (99p), a new V brake noodle thing with rubber bit! (1.99), and a bag of mudguard bolts as the crash had basically ripped two out of the front mudguard (another 99p)

Before we left, I had fixed the front brake to work, it just needed a nipple, but even with me and my dad sorting it out, we just couldnt get it to brake properly, it either bound the wheel up... or didnt stop a freewheeling wheel when I was pulling on the lever it looked buggered. The reason I bought a V brake noodle thing was because my dad noticed that the cable had torn two great holes in the side of the rubbery concertina bit of rubber, and it was all deformed when we pulled the lever, and had also gone rock hard (wasnt springing back or concertinering, just getting crushed when brakes were applied), so I bought a new v brake noodle thing to get the rubber bit, replaced the noodle, refitted the brakes, and adjusted them, crimped a end cover to the cable.

Then tried them. NO SQUISHYNESS!!!!!

The squishyness was down to the rubber concertina cover. Couldnt believe it!.. something so small completely fouling up a brake system.

New rubber concertina cover is now really squidgy and springy, it crushes when brakes are applied and springs back to shape when you let them go, and response is instant, tried it a good few times to make sure it wasnt like the last time, instant stoppage, then nothing after a few braking goes.

Back brake we noticed that the rubber bit is also getting hard like its aging... so shall aim to replace that noodle too in future, for Ã,£1.99 you cant fault it!!

So yeah, no need for new brakes, or new cables, or new cable sheaths... just a Ã,£1.99 v brake noodle, and 5 minutes to sort it out.

Total cost to repair my bike after the accident, and fix the brakes...

Ã,£5 for a wheel (Formula Hub, and Vuelta Vision II Rim no idea if thats good or bad)
Ã,£1.99 for a v brake noodle
99p for a packet of cable ends
99p for some mudguard bolts
Ã,£9.99 for quick release skewers, and I have 2 of them (one for a rear wheel left)

Ã,£18.96 and 2 hours faffing around.

Sorted!!!

Needed to do some alignment stuff too but that was about it (saddle was facing sideways, and handlebars were completely off center with the right bar end and brake lever pointing at the sky).

That front wheel is fine. Formula hubs are cheap and cheerful, nuthin wrong with em. Decent enough rim. Killer price. Would have run you $50 over here for such a front.

Wish I had a local joint for stoopit little stuff like that. Even the usually friendly Bike Pedlar, gives me the squinty eye when I waste their time buying ball bearings.

yeah, plus im one of these guys who hates having to explain stuff to a shop guy.

My LBS is a tiny corner shop affair, you dont browse in there, you have to talk to the man and he finds the stuff you want.

I like to browse, and have a look around. Took my complete front brake cable into the place, walked straight up to the parts wall, and started browsing. Musta spent 10 or 20 minutes just looking at the wall matching things to the cable, it was so nice just not to get hassle when browsing, big shops definately have that going for them.

Shifting may have peaked about 10 years ago, but kick started back into life when Sram came in with its X- Range.

X9, Strong, Fast, quieter and less all over movement than shimano. And 1:1 ratioed too.

Quote from: M3ta7h3adyeah, plus im one of these guys who hates having to explain stuff to a shop guy.

I love it.  Especially when said shop guy tries to tell you that what your asking for doesnt exist anywhere on earth, as was the case when I asked the bike man in the market for shimano-splined single sprockets

MY redneck alternate LBS stocks the DX cogs, but they are also a big bmx shop.

I cant see how the rubber boot was hindering your braking.  The rubber sheath inside the noodle maybe, but the boot?  Thats just to stop mud getting dragged inside the noodel.

Id say it was probably the noodle itself.  Not the boot.

Quote from: soopahflyI cant see how the rubber boot was hindering your braking.  The rubber sheath inside the noodle maybe, but the boot?  Thats just to stop mud getting dragged inside the noodel.

Id say it was probably the noodle itself.  Not the boot.

The rubber boot didnt compress when the brake lever was pulled, so most of my braking energy was in fact being used to crush an extraordinarily hard bit of plastic, for my brake pads to actually touch the rim.

I was pulling the lever back to the handlebars basically to get just a moderate braking force applied, no amount of adjusting helped. Replace the rubber bit, and tada!!! the calipers can move freely as the rubber compresses when squeezed relatively easily.