Hi all
Weather was nice up here today with the best of the sun in the afternoon, though the wind from the south grew steadily stronger throughout the afternoon.
I had good intentions of getting out well before lunch on the Trucker and then, as so often happens, other things just take the time away and then before I knew it it was nearly lunch. I was planning on just spending the day having a ride then doing some work on the Mercian and also sorting a rattle in the drivetrain of the Merckx before it got any worse, just pottering about really, out the back with Caleb, mucking about with the bikes in the sun etc.
I had to check the work I did the other night to realign the mech hanger on the Mercian while I had the work stand out back. I had got it pretty much spot on, could be a mm or two at certain spots around the rim but that's about as close to perfect as it is likely to have ever been. Thanks very much to Brian for lending me his Cyclo alignment tool, super easy to use and set up, far nicer than the one I used previously, I did appreciate it as I know its a quality piece of kit and not the sort of thing most people would loan out.
While it was easy to setup and pretty straight forward really, I did have to double check, even triple check as the hanger was that far out of shape, in all directions, not just a case of bent in, it was of course twisted which meant it had to be manipulated on all planes. I know the tool is designed so that you can use the leverage of its length to tweak the dropout, its actually a bit disconcerting how easy it is, it makes it feel like putty. And yes, before anyone say it I checked wheel/frame alignment both before and after and all was spot on. I had the wheel in and bolted so as not to distort or move the dropout. I knew it was way out as even when set up as a singlespeed the tensioner couldn't even run the chain as it ran across the tensioner at a very obvious angle. Hopefully once the rear mech goes on it should all be good. I tried it with a cassette and a chain and it looked spot on whereas before it was really clear to the eye that something was wrong. Its taken me a couple of years to get round to it, but that's why I picked it up so cheap as I, as well as the seller, knew it wasn't just a case of putting the vice grips on it and squeezing it straight. I didn't set it up as I have some Dura Ace 7400 for it but I don't have a cassette to suite as it takes a maximum of 26teeth and the smallest I have is a 28. Its great to have it fixed but I just wasn't overly enthused for building it today.
Then it was on to getting the Merckx sorted of a worsening rattle from the drivetrain on unsmooth roads. I checked what I thought was everything and there was nothing obvious so thought I would strip it, put it back together with a new chain and see if that solved it. I measured the chain and the was very minimal wear, I wasn't surprised as I service it and look after it but it put my theory of the chain being the cause, out the window. With it on the workstand for a change it just gave a different perspective and so decided to run it through and see if anything looked remotely weird. I soon spotted the smallest cog on the cassette looked like it was out of alignment. I stopped the bike and lifted the chain to feel it and it was then I discovered the cassette was loose on the splines, not just a bit of play but rattly loose. The lockring was tight but all I can imagine is that somehow when I last put it on that the last cog with the built in sort of spacer was not on the right spline and when it did up, it tightened but as it couldn't go on the splines the main body and the four smallest cogs were just loose and probably really came apart after the first ride. Crazy really as since the last time I had it off I have descended the bealach over 70kmh at some points. Sorted it and reindexed everything at the back and took it out for a couple of hours this afternoon. I was confident I set it up as the only tool I took on my ride was a small screw driver for the high and low set screws. It shifted like a hot knife through butter
Never missed a beat 
I did my usual ride around the coast enjoying the sun and being back out on the Merckx as its been a little while since I had it out.
It ran perfectly and while I am sentimental about this bike, it really does fit me, rides really nice and even the groupset works brilliantly. I have a full Dura Ace 7410 setup for it but the Ultegra and 105 setup its had since new just works so nicely so its staying on for now. Function over fashion. Its always been a rider and it rides really nice as it is.
So that's more waffle there than a Belgium waffle shop at closing time, so here's some photos.
Hope you all had a good one today as well.
Jamie
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