Balderdash and Piffle #Bikes

I've already talked about Naughtybike's breakdown in a recent post and also mentioned GrumpyBike's been bought out of storage for the moment until we fix the singlespeed monster.

It's been a bit of a bumpy transition onto the bike as It was close to being a junker until I repaired it, leaving the components that were still relatively new (as I don't know it's servicing/parts swap out schedule from the FIL) or showing minimal fatigue with parts checked frequently for failure signs.
Well today I learnt that sometimes checks mean nothing.

On my journey to the Dunstable Down Radio Club car boot *UXWBILL think Hamfest* I noticed the gears were sloppy but ridable, it happens after a bike is used after being in storage for a long time despite adjustment so thought nothing of it as I've had bikes with perfect alignment go sloppy due to warm weather so it was nothing more than an afterthought.

I was lazy, out of shape and pulling the trailer too so decided to walk up the hill to the top, knowing the paths were better up top. On arriving I jumped on and started to pedal and got quite the unpleasant surprise. CLUNKsnapCLANGCLUNKCLANG Bugger! Turns out changing gears caused the rear mech to fail, snap then twist, becoming caught in the wheel spokes and snapping the chain.

Someone must have been watching over me today as it failed at less than 5 mph. If I were to have been travelling in a normal fashion and on the road there's no doubt I would have been smashed up pretty badly and for the record, I was on a public green area with a cyclepath linked onto it, when travelling here I assume pedestrians always have priority there and always cycle safely there.

Well It's shot. I'll link to an autopsy video I created - as I swear in the video I'll not embed it here. It looks like a catastrophic failure that could have been severe if I'd been on the road/hill section. that does not bode well in my mind.

Now if you rely on your bike and need it for transportation use there is a way to cludge it to be usable. It's tacky but works and costs about £5 or less if you have tools.


You'll need

• replacement chainlinks (halfords sell them)
• chain-link removal tool 
• Allen keys 
• cable ties or tape
• chain (if yours was killed and unsuitable to botch)

Here's what to do. 

Turn the bike upside down. 

Once upside down undo the rear mech cable with an allen key and undo the bolt. Pull the cable through and 

tie/tape the cable to the post (see the image above the cable ties are holding it together.)

With the chain place it on the middle cog on both the front and rear cogs, it needs to be central as best as possible, failing that it may need to go one down or higher depending on the chain (or buy a chain tensioner - as the setup is different to a bmx the chain configuration is laid out differently so without a tensioner sag is normal. I may sell the shifters and crankset then convert this bike to singlespeed. If I do I'll be making a tutorial on that) WARNING - ONE GEAR MAY BE HARDER OR TOO EASY - NOT MUCH WE CAN DO TO FIX THAT WITHOUT THE REAR MECH

Once you've found the best cogs for the chain grab your link remover and remove excess chain. make sure it's a thicker part of the chain exposed on both sides. 

Grab your links and link the chain together, attaching the top end and locking it in place (Can't help here as all links are different - sorry)

Make sure the front mech (3 cogs on the front) is set to the middle (2) or the chain will fall off! 

Turn the pedals and see how if it runs. Gravity may change the rear cogs one up or down but if done right it'll be fine.

Ride it nearby so if it fails you're near home. If it does fail or the chain is too baggy readjust and remove another small bit of chain or put on the desired cog upside down, use a screwdriver to push it in place it'll not move once in the right place. 

Hope this helps you out. If not let me know and i'll help where I can.

Paul 

Kitchen Improvements: What Can We Do Ourselves?

Do you have look around your house and just get the urge to head for B&Q for a tub of paint, or fancy a change of tiles in the bathroom? There’s nothing worse than living in a home that’s looking a little bit drab and stagnant and breathing life into a room can really raise the spirits too. They don’t even need to be massive changes that cost a fortune either – adding a couple of shelves to a wall in your living room so that kid’s DVDs don’t clutter up the carpet or giving the hallway a fresh lick of paint are easy jobs that most people would be happy to get stuck into and will make your home seem fresh and revitalised. 

When it comes to the kitchen, there are plenty of improvements that we can do ourselves. As the heart of many homes, a kitchen should ooze light and airy vibes and after a while, the build-up of grease and grime will take away from this ideal. While major kitchen improvements such as replacing a boiler can cost a fortune, smaller jobs can be tackled with ease. Of course, make sure that your boiler is well looked after because the bill you could face if it died can be crippling. . With boiler care from British Gas, you can pay a monthly premium to benefit from the added peace of mind that boiler insurance provides, while many of the policies that British Gas offer also include an annual service our boiler will continue to work to its full capacity and your kitchen upgrades can be easy and affordable for longer. 

Other updates to the kitchen that could make it look like a completely different room, without forking out thousands for new units, include:

• Adding a lick of paint to the cupboard doors so that they look like new, but they aren’t. Crafty.
• You don’t even have to go this far – giving them a good clean and replacing the handles can do the world of good!
• Replacing tiles around the splash back or adding tile transfers sporadically for a splash of colour.
• Repainting the walls to brighten the room and adding a blind to the winter which compliments the new look.

Make your kitchen a delight to spend time in with budget-friendly renovations that will completely change the feeling of the room. 

Disclaimer. This post is bought to you with British Gas! 

Hey! Tesco Mobile repair center!

Backstory:

He showed it to me with a similar mark on the screen a few weeks back. I told him to be careful with it while i call Vodafone/Huawei for advice on the matter. as while the bubble was there it was pushing down on the phone causing damage to the display.

On phoning Vodafone they advised me it's a common issue and would be repaired under a standard warranty. Woohoo!  As we'd bought it from a Tesco store I knew It was them who would have the last say but wanted Vodafone's thoughts on it. To Tesco we will go the following day!

Overnight it vanished. That day the screen broke, with lines down one side of the screen. There was no cracking or damage to the gorilla glass I assume this bubble increased in size causing a chip on film for the LCD to fail. 

Tesco's phone shop Dunstable have been fantastic throughout they could see the problem and the people we spoke to on the phone in the mini store were also fab. If only they could have booked the phone in for repair and sent it from story It would save the Royal mail cock up.

Royal mail lost the phone, or the phone was lost in a backlog. 

Found last week, so I guess it was backlogs. It was fixed and sent back. in a flimsy jiffybag. I kid you not a standard thin jiffy bag, compared to me posting it in wrapped in three jiffy bags for protection that's a fail! 

It came back to us Thursday and by Friday morning the air bubble had come back!  So it was off to Tesco again. The phone was obviously not repaired properly. On talking to a lovely lady It was suggested i "post it in sooner next time" When i explained it went missing in the post or was stuck in tesco's backlog she apologized, re-booked it in and promised me all will be sorted properly this time! 

I genuinely hope so as I've had to buy my son a £15 vdafone alcatel budget phone (he's in love with it mind you) to keep him connected to his friends. So I'm out of pocket for this. But spare phones are useful the way things are going!

However the bubble vanished again this morning. So I've informed tesco of this. I just hope they repair the issue properly. it looks like the bond between the gorilla glass, digitisr and LCD is too weak, the phone makes noise in your hand too. A sign of poor build quality. Which is a shame as the phone is awesome bar the screen issue. Made more annoying as we've already upgraded his line to a decent sim only deal, we could have got a new phone for him if we knew this would happen! 

I've read about it on Vodafone's Eform, Modaco forums, private blogs, the lady i spoke to at tesco's today, and many other online pages. some suggest pushing the back some say get it swapped. 

But PLEASE Tesco. Fix it properly this time! For the sake of a 13 year old who needs his phone to keep him going (trust me on this please)

Pauil