Today I had planned to ride to Hebden Bridge, meet a group there and either ride home or get a lift with Ali, all depending on if she could be bothered riding! Anyway my cold is still here and I felt rubbish this morning so I decided on no riding for me and had an extra hour in bed. Then since it was a nice day - no rain! - Ali suggested we bleed our brakes. We started with her bike, then my rig and then my trek. Mine weren't too bad, although the reservoirs all need topping up not many air bubbles came through the system. Ali has now offered to wash my bikes so they'll be all shiny to get dirty on the next ride!Saturday, 1 November 2008
Bleeding brakes
Today I had planned to ride to Hebden Bridge, meet a group there and either ride home or get a lift with Ali, all depending on if she could be bothered riding! Anyway my cold is still here and I felt rubbish this morning so I decided on no riding for me and had an extra hour in bed. Then since it was a nice day - no rain! - Ali suggested we bleed our brakes. We started with her bike, then my rig and then my trek. Mine weren't too bad, although the reservoirs all need topping up not many air bubbles came through the system. Ali has now offered to wash my bikes so they'll be all shiny to get dirty on the next ride!
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Your putting me to shame, I have no idea how to bleed my brakes and even if my life depended on it I'm not sure I could remember how to change the pads - I get Jez to do all that!
ReplyDeleteI can do my pads, otherwise there would be no-one to do it. I can't do Ali's, avids are too fiddly for someone with my lack of patience! So she had to learn herself! She went on a course recently and learnt how to bleed brakes, but its easy, I could cope with following the instructions. Ali has now spent all afternoon cleaning my bikes so I am lazy as well!
ReplyDeleteJulbags you'd be surprised how easy it is, you could do it in an emergency. I had an "oops there seems to be fluid pouring out of the reservoir quickly teach myself how to top up and bleed" situation. I muddled through, you could do the same I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteDepends on what brakes you have of course, my hopes needed a length of hose and the right ring spanner. Ali's avids needed a bleed kit made up of syringes. But with the right kit it was easy!
ReplyDeletecheap(ish)small cross bike: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/47cm-c-c-paul-milnes-cyclocross-bike-sora-sti-alloy-new_W0QQitemZ130265352121QQihZ003QQcategoryZ33503QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
ReplyDeleteI'm really bad about doing proper bike maintenance.
ReplyDeleteStop tempting me anon, I really cannot buy a bike at the moment!
ReplyDeleteLisa I am rubbish as well, I just ride them till they die usually, this is why this was such an occasion!
I have Hope's too, on both bikes. I usually ride until I notice somethings not right (usually just before its terminal) then try to explain to Jez what's wrong - badly. If I didn't have such a good bike mechanic I would probably have learned it myself by now as I don't trust bike shops to do as good a job. I was actually better at maintaining my bike before I met him, but he's excellent at it and enjoys doing it.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky in that I've found a bike shop I trust completely! They are slowly fixing the things that another bike shop did wrong!
ReplyDeleteFor once i'm not Anon.
ReplyDeleteThats the bike i've just brought so you're definately not allowed that one!