spray can straw

prevent loss of the little red straw from spray cans. wind it around the rim of the can. i also keep a stash of straws around from used up cans

trek mt220 fd cable routing

hey trek can you fix this. route the fd cable properly. i have been seeing this on mt220s for over 3 months and yes they know about it. stop using the crappy RD with the plastic washer on the mounting bolt too, it comes broken and i bet you love doing the warranty on them. ok done ranting

knipex pliers wrench

get yourself a set of these bad boys. the 10 inch size will be the most versatile if you only get one. parallel jaw pliers. the jaws always stay parallel unlike other smooth jaw pliers. good for gripping seized spokes, threaded headset adjustment, 1 piece cranks, and more

bontrager hard case tires

not impressed with these tires on the trek portland. got 3 flats already. big chunk of glass the rear and two slow leaks in the front from unknown causes, the debris probably got knocked out. the gutters in the roads are still a mess from the winter but i try to avoid riding in the gutter as much as possible.

modified cone wrench for disc hubs

this is for locking down the cone and lock nut on the disc side of the hub without removing the axle. file or grind away the sides for clearance on the disc bolts and put a 15 degree bend to clear the other bolt under it. to bend it stick it in the vice with the open end facing up and put an adjustable wrench on it to bend it. to use it lock down the disc side and flip the wheel over to adjust from the other side

trek/gary fisher marlin

clear sticker/packaging film under the crown race. good job trek

specialized crosstrail rim tape

cheap rim tape and poor qc. that flap was sticking out of the mounted tire

trek portland hub update

so i looked into the hubs some more, namely mine. the older porland's did indeed have a 130mm hub. the 2011 rear hub is 135mm OLD. i just measured mine today. so trek does indeed get a clue, sometimes

trek portland hub

hey trek why did you use a 130mm OLD disc hub? 135mm disc hubs are readily available and some 29er wheelsets would make a good set of wheels to thrash on.

presta valve extender tip

there are 2 types of valve extenders. one is a glorified straw and the other requires the removal of the valve core, threading the extender and rethreading the core on the extender. the one that requires core removal is far superior. if you are using the straw type give the lock nut of the tube a crimp before putting the teflon tape and extender on. the crimp prevents the lock nut from spinning down in the worst moments.

screen for oil bucket

we keep a bucket around for oil. it is mostly used for fork oils. got tired of dropping parts and fishing them out of 5 gal bucket half full of oil. take some window screen and loosely secure it around the top with zip ties(big band around the rim). prevents loss of parts and a good place to drain dampers and lowers while you clean the uppers.

take care of your tools

its winter time here in new england. the shop slows down to a crawl. we got plenty of time on our hands. now is the time to inventory your tools and order any new tools that you may need. it is also time to maintain your tools. chain tool, crank puller, ratchets, etc should be cleaned and lubed. for the park hanger alignment tool i pull out the inside shaft and clean and grease it. the grease provide a hydraulic buffer between the shaft and tool. this reduces play and gives smoother operation.

crows foot cone wrench

this is for working on fox fit dampers. torque wrench on a cone wrench. plug in a park cone wrench and turn it 90 degrees so you don't have to do any calculations.

snap rings

square edges of the snap ring should face the snap ring pliers. the snap rings wont fly off and get lost on the floor anymore. one side of a snap ring is rounded from the stamping process and the other is squared off, easy to see by eye and feel

extend the life of your park dag 1

if you have a older park derailleur alignment tool you will find that the alignment boss is quite large. the large boss interferes with the smaller hangers on many new road bikes. a quick fix is to grab a axle washer and slip it on over the stud. this will reduce the diameter of the boss and give you some room to work with. for example trek madone hangers and the DAG 1 dont play well but slip on the washer and its good to go. the pic above is for illustration. the washer i have is larger than normal and the tool is the newer DAG 2

trek portland update

bike is great. i love it. i took it on some errands around town in the snow/slush. bike handles fine in the snow. need to be careful with the brakes because it is easy to lock up the wheels in packed snow. the brakes are noisy when they are wet but that is to be expected. let me know if you have any questions about the bike

grip tape scraps

i save the bar tape scraps and sometimes i have a long enough piece to wrap around my tools. wrapped my breaker bar with some bar tape. makes laying down the power a little easier on the hands. i also wrap my headset wrenches with bar tape.

cheater pipes and extra leverage

yes i know better than to use cheater pipes. sometimes though the cheater pipe is needed for extra leverage and to get the job done. i have breaker bars and long ratchets but sometimes need more. i keep old steel seatposts around for this purpose. strong and designed to resist bending. pump shafts are good too but they get messed up easily. the walls are too thin but there is an almost endless supply of pump shafts in the scrap pile.

good shop scissors

i use these EMT shears in the shop. good for cutting handle bar tape. they are cheap to replace if they grow legs. they work well too. try them out if you need some new scissors.

put a magnet on your chain whip

put a magnet on the tag end of your chain whip. this will keep the end from flopping around and falling off when you are laying down some serious power. i used an old shoe lace and stuffed a small 1/4 diameter magnet in it. put a few knots it in and attach to the end of your whip. you will like this one