Re: The bicycle thread

301
I don't know why the picture is sideways until you click on it. That's strange. The brakes work great, but I'll need to check them periodically for the first several rides to make sure nothing is coming loose. If anything, the rear may need to rotate slightly counter clockwise. I can always grind off part of the aluminum bracket at the top to rotate the brake assembly counter clockwise (the area in the red circle). Notice the 2 spacers I needed at the bottom to keep the disc from rubbing. Visually it looks close but brake pad wear will tell if it's off too far.

Worse case I put the old brakes back on.
20180311_184501-1.jpg
Last edited by inomaha on Mon Mar 12, 2018 10:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
Brian

Re: The bicycle thread -- Motobecane Assembled!

302
YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:59 pm And it's assembled!
Looks good, rides great!
I struggled with the balance of the rear derailleur between the b-screw, the high and low adjustments, and the cable tension, because none of that was set by the factory. I finally replaced the b-screw with a longer, stainless steel screw that could move it more. Took 2 days to get it work right but I did. Luckily, the front derailleur was set up perfectly. Both brakes were rubbing but I had seen some pictures on how to true the rotors by actually bending them! (!!!!) which worked. Plus the wheels needed truing which went very quickly, even just eyeballing it. Then mount the brakes, shifters and grips, and time for a test ride. Loved it! Climbs our steep hills like nothing and, as I expected, I utterly detest the stock grips! They are awful and cut up my hands. So now I'm going to add a kick stand because, shit, a bike without a kick stand is a pain in the ass, a bottle cage, and better grips, preferably something softer with the heel palm extensions.
That is a frightening amount of seat post.
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: The bicycle thread

304
A couple of things.

Aluminum frames don't like kickstands. Presta valves are very good for letting air out of your tires. Also, it is VERY easy to blow up your tube and or tyre by sticking a compressor/gas station air fill on a Shraeder valve.

This weekend my son and I went off road biking in an area he has never been and I haven't explored much. One of the areas where mountain biking as we know it really began. Its the sort of place I learned to ride in the eighties and nineties. Its an area of woods between train tracks and a small man made lake. On the other side of the tracks there is a large neighborhood(s) of houses built in the fifties and sixties. It is obvious that kids have been coming out there and building BMX tracks and jumps, trails and forts for YEARS. Along the way lots of trails were made. Mostly badly. Sometime in the recent past an obviously IMBA trained trail builder started linking them up and fixing/re-routing them. I don't know how many miles of trail they have built but it is substantial. The sprog had a blast and it is slightly more challenging terrain than where we have been training recently. I'm looking forward to exploring more . There is a really cool spooky grove of huge bamboo growing on what I'm pretty sure is the dirt scooped from the lake. I just did a little googling and discovered it is a 165 acre tract with at least four miles of trail built IMBA style.

As I was putting my bike and my sons on my new to me 2006 Honda CRV for the first time yesterday I realized I had become "that guy". I'm now officially that guy with the bike that's way more valuable than the car it's on the roof of! :yahoo:
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: The bicycle thread

305
inomaha wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:21 am I don't know why the picture is sideways until you click on it. That's strange. The brakes work great, but I'll need to check them periodically for the first several rides to make sure nothing is coming loose. If anything, the rear may need to rotate slightly counter clockwise. I can always grind off part of the aluminum bracket at the top to rotate the brake assembly counter clockwise (the area in the red circle). Notice the 2 spacers I needed at the bottom to keep the disc from rubbing. Visually it looks close but brake pad wear will tell if it's off too far.

Worse case I put the old brakes back on.

20180311_184501-1.jpg
Nice choice of brakes. I have been using BB-7's for years. Great brake for the money.
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: The bicycle thread

306
Given the number of different adapters out there. I think I'll take mine off and run to the bike shop down the street tomorrow to look for something with a different angle to rotate the brake slightly counter clockwise. Something with a longer post on the bottom and a shorter post on top. If I can't find one, then I'll modify what I have. When I drilled the hole in the bracket I centered it some and looking at photos from my mockup, to my final installation, I can tell I rotated the metal bracket just a little clockwise to line it up with the hole. That's why I went from no spacers to 2 spacers to pick the brake up and stop rubbing.

I may have look for something with longer posts for a 180 mm brake and grind it down to get the positioning I want.

This thing is not a bolt on project that's for sure. Without the bolt drilled through the bracket and attached to the frame, the bracket fell loose every time I took the wheel off. So if I changed a tire, I'd have to fiddle with the brakes. I like things secure and more permanent so it's worth the added effort to me.

Plus I like to stop when I pull the brake lever. :D

I'm not sold on the mount around the tube at all. The more I look at it, the more I think I'll redo that too. To be honest, with the 2 attachment points at the bottom, I probably don't even need it, so the only reason I'd redo it is to look nicer and add some security. And because it gives me something to do.
Last edited by inomaha on Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian

Re: The bicycle thread

308
Mason wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:58 am Or you could just run a V brake rear and disc up front 1999 style!
That's what I've been doing since last year.

But the disc wheel is 8 speed versus 7 and I needed a new freewheel anyway. The wheelset came with the shifters and brakes. The donor bike was left outside after they bent something. Looking at the freewheel, it had very little miles. So I got the whole setup for less than a new freewheel cost.

I've put over 2500 miles on this bike and since the components were lower end, I've been slowly upgrading. Now I'm attached to it. It's too bad it didn't come with the rear mount as that's really the only thing wrong with it. The bike fits me perfectly.

I know if I sold it and bought a newer bike, I'd just tear it all apart and start working on stuff anyway. I can't help myself. For example it's so flat here that I'm hardly ever out of the top gears, so I changed out the front triple with larger gears so I could pick up some speed and use some of the other rear gears. It turned the bike into more of a commuter then an uphill mountain bike.
Last edited by inomaha on Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian

Re: The bicycle thread -- Motobecane Assembled!

312
Mason wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:48 am
YankeeTarheel wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 5:59 pm And it's assembled!
Looks good, rides great!
I struggled with the balance of the rear derailleur between the b-screw, the high and low adjustments, and the cable tension, because none of that was set by the factory. I finally replaced the b-screw with a longer, stainless steel screw that could move it more. Took 2 days to get it work right but I did. Luckily, the front derailleur was set up perfectly. Both brakes were rubbing but I had seen some pictures on how to true the rotors by actually bending them! (!!!!) which worked. Plus the wheels needed truing which went very quickly, even just eyeballing it. Then mount the brakes, shifters and grips, and time for a test ride. Loved it! Climbs our steep hills like nothing and, as I expected, I utterly detest the stock grips! They are awful and cut up my hands. So now I'm going to add a kick stand because, shit, a bike without a kick stand is a pain in the ass, a bottle cage, and better grips, preferably something softer with the heel palm extensions.
That is a frightening amount of seat post.

That's ok. I'm losing weight :lol:
(and I don't plan to be wild-riding off of cliffs and giant boulders!)
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

314
Mason wrote:If that's where it needs to be you may want to invest in a 450mm Thomson Elite Post.
That's a GREAT idea! Yeah, I'm always stuck because I've got a 30" inseam but I like my leg to be completely extended when the pedal's at the bottom.
lurker wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:44 pm
inomaha wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:34 pm I tend towards buying things with the full intent of modifying them.
i don't usually intend to, it just kind of happens.
Yeah, I'm with you on that. I bought the "perfect motorcycle" and the next thing was my wife was shocked to see wires everywhere as I was installing outlets for heated clothing and heated grips. "I thought it was the 'perfect bike'!" she said rather forcefully! "It is!" I replied.

Left her rather confused. :whistle:
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

315
I took a closer look and think I may actually need to add a spacer on top. The top photo shows the pad location. I'll probably try it for a while as is. It does look like there's a wiggle in the disk or I need to put an angled washer to level the bottom end. I have some from some old brakes. This week were in the 50s to 60s so I'll pack some tools and give it a try.

Bottom gap
2018-03-12 19.24.29.jpg
Top gap
2018-03-12 19.25.36.jpg
Last edited by inomaha on Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Brian

Re: The bicycle thread

316
You CAN straighten the disc. I had to bend both of the rotors on the new bike to stop them rubbing the pads. Most of the bending I did with my hands. When I had to exert more force, I wrapped part of the heavy zip-ties used for shipping the bike around the disk and then bent them with a pliers, protected by the zip - tie.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

319
YankeeTarheel wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:25 pm
do me a favor please, next time you look at your peugeot, see if there's a 4-character code stamped into the bottom bracket? (letter letter space letter number) i believe the year (and possibly more) of manufacture is encoded there. Q=74, T=77, V=79, W=80.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

320
lurker wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:56 pm
YankeeTarheel wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:25 pm
do me a favor please, next time you look at your peugeot, see if there's a 4-character code stamped into the bottom bracket? (letter letter space letter number) i believe the year (and possibly more) of manufacture is encoded there. Q=74, T=77, V=79, W=80.
I'm sorry but there's nothing there but a 7 digit serial number plate (and a North Carolina ID number stamped into it around 1979/1980). I looked very carefully. The S/N is completely digits, no letters.

Remember: I bought this bike at the end of August, 1972, so it was built, at the latest, early that year. Perhaps they changed the coding system in the 2-3 years till 1974.

I've replaced the grips on the Motobecane with smoother, softer ergonomic grips, mounted the kickstand, and ordered a seat post that's 50mm longer. Also mounted a light, alloy bottle cage and a small pump. The only lack so far is that there's only on set of accessory braze-on screws. Luckily the pump mount and bottle cage can share the one pair I have. Naturally, we had another 4" of snow so...no riding today!
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

321
YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:47 pm I'm sorry but there's nothing there but a 7 digit serial number plate (and a North Carolina ID number stamped into it around 1979/1980). I looked very carefully. The S/N is completely digits, no letters.
Remember: I bought this bike at the end of August, 1972, so it was built, at the latest, early that year. Perhaps they changed the coding system in the 2-3 years till 1974.
entirely possible. probable, almost certainly. part of the wonder that is peugeots is that dating them is very often a matter of finding the intersection of this type decal (6 years) with that type headbadge (4 years) and the other type stamping (3 years) (or something like that).
i just posted a lengthy description on another forum on dating methods which is totally irrelevant outside the 1974-1980 range. the good part is, mine is very definitely (probably) a 1975. :wacko:
thanks for checking.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: The bicycle thread

322
lurker wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:47 pm
YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:47 pm I'm sorry but there's nothing there but a 7 digit serial number plate (and a North Carolina ID number stamped into it around 1979/1980). I looked very carefully. The S/N is completely digits, no letters.
Remember: I bought this bike at the end of August, 1972, so it was built, at the latest, early that year. Perhaps they changed the coding system in the 2-3 years till 1974.
entirely possible. probable, almost certainly. part of the wonder that is peugeots is that dating them is very often a matter of finding the intersection of this type decal (6 years) with that type headbadge (4 years) and the other type stamping (3 years) (or something like that).
i just posted a lengthy description on another forum on dating methods which is totally irrelevant outside the 1974-1980 range. the good part is, mine is very definitely (probably) a 1975. :wacko:
thanks for checking.
Hey, no problem! It's up on the service stand anyway so I didn't have to bend too far! I still have to finish truing the front wheel, then reinstall the brakes, with new cables, and clean it up as much as I can--I wish I could match the white enamel paint. The new Motobecane is and awfully good looking bike, but black narrow flange hubs just don't compare to wide-flange polished aluminum Normandys, and Rock Shox are cool forks but don't have the elegance of the old tapering, curved, naturally sprung forks.

(I have ordered a longer seat post). I think I may need new riding gloves....
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: The bicycle thread

323
I bought another one today. My younger daughter has outgrown her walmart bike I had rebuilt with left over better parts. I'm selling that one. Really.

I bought a 2015 Diamondback Axis XE to replace it. Much cheaper used and should take minimal work. I always repack the wheel and bottom bearings. The rest should only be minor adjustments. It looks like it hasn't been ridden.
Brian

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