pete_s

Cheers. I think they nicked this one because they couldn't break the lock on my main bike I use. What I used to do was lock my main bike against the Czar with a Hiplok and then loop cables through the frame and wheels and join it to the padlock. They've had a go at the Hiplok and failed so nicked this instead. They'd would've have to of lifted the bike up in the air and then slide the trials one out. c**ts. Cheers, Pete

Hi Guys, I had my Czar bike stolen this week. If anyone sees it about on the internet or in real life I'd appreciate any heads up. It looks like this: Cheers, Pete

Curious as to why the amount of dish of the rim is changing just by riding, or maybe I've misunderstood. The rim should be made central between the hub lock nuts during the wheel building process and measured by a dishing tool. Could you post how you're measuring the rim diameter, hub dimensions and what calculator you're using?

Just an observation but will a centre-toothed socket change your chain line by moving it in a few mm? What's the usual allowance on a free wheel? I know fixies have got to be almost bang on with theirs otherwise it starts to bind and make not very nice noises. Pete

Cheers both. I'll fiddle with the spring and buy a bearing kit and see how it goes. Ta

Ye that's what I'm having to fiddle with to bring the left-hand arm back out from the rim. When it is set up it's really good but it's a pain in the arse having to adjust it every 20mins.

Hey all, Didn't want to start up a new topic for something that might've been asked already, but I can't find anything by searching and this thread title fits the bill. I've got an Avid Ultimate V on the rear and I'm having trouble getting it stay set-up. I can align all the pads and get the brake pads to hit the rim at the same time but it doesn't last and eventually the left-hand arm starts to get stuck in position and I have to fiddle around the with bolts again. Has anyone had this before and how did you fix it? Is it feature of v-brakes that one side tends to lag and doesn't spring back? Cheers for your help. Pete

Radial trueness is the hardest aspects of wheel building and it really comes down to practice. From my experience it's the first thing I do because once you've set it up it doesn't really drift like lateral trueness or dish does. This is made worse by the fact that used rims are much harder to build than brand new ones because they become deformed by shoddy build processes. The first thing you want to do is spin the wheel whilst having your finger run along the rim wall. This'll let you know if it is radially wonky or if it's a number of slight flat spots. I've found that radial trueness relies on about 4-6 spokes and are nearly always distributed evenly on each side. You wont need to tighten the spoke much to a make a difference. I tend to tighten a nipple no more than 1/8 of a turn at any given time when doing the truing. If you're confident that the rim wall is in a good condition then try and accurately find where the defect is coming from. Take a close inspection around the joint of the rim. Rims in general aren't perfectly round because of this joint. Lots of people have recommended websites about wheel building, and I'd strongly advise you to spend £9 on this e-book: http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php. It's the best guide I've read.

That means the spokes are the incorrect length for what you're doing. It could be for a number of reasons: a/ someone messed up measuring either the rim or hub b/ you've got the drive side and non-drive spokes mixed up (assuming you're building a rear wheel or a front wheel with rotor mounts) c/ you're doing a different spoke pattern to what the wheel originally was I reckon the most likely explanation is b. Who built the wheel originally?

No because with this shape it's quicker to spin the nipples down. The driver isn't used to tighten the nipples up during the tensioning stage of the wheel build but to take up the slack at the beginning of the process. When the spoke hits the top of the driver it starts to push it out of the slot in the nipple. This helps you get the spokes threaded all the same amount and makes it easier to manage the wheel dish.

You need one of these... It's what I use and is just an old screwdriver that's been bent and inserted into an old paintbrush handle, and then the tip filed down. I think DT Swiss make something like this which is ridiculously expensive. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-bREIeS_nu4c3Z6eE9WcEU3OVE/edit?usp=sharing It lets me wind the nipples down an equal amount by disengaging when the tip of the driver hits the top of the spoke.

Sounds pretty standard to be honest. It was only luck that a position came up that I could apply for when I finished mine otherwise I'd be out on my arse. For wages it's very much dependant on how big the company is. Some of the guys who were at the same college as me in the first year were on £20k which went up yearly. I wasn't so lucky but then you're getting paid to train which isn't too easy to come across!

I think this will be up to the company that sponsors/employs you. When I was doing my apprenticeship there were guys who had already been to a college or university. Additionally, one guy at my work who has completed the apprenticeship programme and was employed full time as a technician is starting at another place as an apprentice again in a few months time. As far as I'm aware as long as you're under 24 when you begin the apprenticeship it doesn't really matter what level your current qualification is.

Mmmmm... I did a bit of 3-phase theory at college. My educated opinion (guess) is that if you look at the start of the graph the red and blue lines are cancelling each other out so effectively you only have one winding when the motor switches on that's delivering any power. However, if you remove one of the lines (i.e. blue) at any point after the beginning the phases never cancel out again. To see why it will keep on running until the load changes I think you'll need to graph the phase of the current.

To be fair it's the gamble you take with any shopping where you don't physically pick the goods up and take it to the cashier. It's just that you feel you have more of a come back if anything goes foobar, but any episode of Watchdog will show you that's not always the case.