The iconic bicycle chain is but one variant of the many ways of propelling your steed. Having experienced quite a few of these alternatives, Re-Cycle Engineering (RCE) we weren’t surprised (nor perturbed) when asked to carry out a repair this bike:
A modern chain-less bicycle.
Note (1) the electric motor operating the front wheel. Present British law only allows for pedal-assist bikes (i.e. you must be pedaling for the electric motor to be operational). Note (2) the lack of a chain. So, how does it work?
Let’s have a look at the chain-set:
A chain-set without a chairing or chain – what gives?.
Back story: RCE helped out the owner a few weeks earlier. The cyclist had accidentally damaged the right-hand pedal crank and needed it to be replaced. For those of you unknowledged, a right pedal has a right-handed thread on it (clockwise to tighten) and the left on has a left-handed thread on it (anti-clockwise to tighten). Of course we could have sold him a expensive crank arm for a right pedal which would have delayed his return to cycling. Alternatively we could have fitted a left-hand crank with a left pedal (not ideal – meaning that he would be permanently having to buy 2 sets of pedals at a time). To get the cyclist back on his saddle the same day, we agreed upon fitting a spare, pre-used right-hand crank (quick and cheap).
Still, we haven’t answered the question of how the bike is propelled? Let’s take a gander at the rear of the bike:
No chain and no cogs.
Looks a bit weird. Let’s take of the hub’s gear-changing ‘click-box’ and the cover off where the chain should be:
Does this explain anything?
Now we see a strange-looking gear on the wheel’s hub. Let’s take off the rear wheel and look at what that gear interacts with:
Any the wiser?
Maybe these to pictures will help:
A) straight-cut bevel gears (often seen on canal lock).
B) Spiral-cut bevel gears (often seen in tricycles and cars differentials).
The following is an example of why all our works prices are Estimates. What may appear to a simple operation, can turn into something a lot more!
Normally a £3 to £10 operation (un-bolt the old saddle, insert a new one, set the reach, height & angle, and lock into place).
This one’s not a “normal”:
Covering 200 miles per week in the Autumn, Winter & Spring months, this saddle had not been moved for about 3 years.
Plan A failed: an attempt to release the rear clamping bolt failed – the Allen-key socket head on the bolt was rusty and rounded-off on first attempt.
Plan B failed: attempts to clamping the bolt-head failed – not enough access to it.
Plan C was to cut/grind off the saddle where it’s rails meet the clamp and release the front clamping bolt. Should be fairly straight-forward – let’s see what happened.
Saddle removed:
The seat-clamp from above:
Underside, showing the rounded-off rear clamping bolt:
Plan C failed: after cleaning the clamp head, we found the front bolt also rounded-off – obviously, both bolts were firmly seized/corroded into the clamp.
Normally we’d stop here and wouldn’t put any more of our time & effort (and customer’s £££s) into the operation – usual practice would be to notify the customer for approval to replace the seat-post at an agreed price.
However, being who we are, we wanted to go further down this rabbit hole (though, not at the customer’s expense) – so we came up with Plan D: grind-out one of the rails to reduce pressure of the other one, remove the remaining rail, get better access to both bolt-heads for clamping/turning, clean everything up, replace both bolts and ensure that we don’t get into this mess again. Let’s see how that went:
Here’s both of the rails removed:
Here’s what was left (from the from, right, above):
And from the rear left above:
After much grunting and a daily, paper-cut:
we were able to remove the rear clamp-bolt:
and then the other:
Plan D failed: we did not possess a suitable bolt to replace the rear one! Darn it!
Plan E: a) replace the seat-post and b) ensure that we don’t get into this mess again.
Here’s the replacement seat-post:
Close-up of the head:
To ‘ensure that we don’t get into this mess again’ we’ll have to remove the fastenings:
clean them:
cover all internal and external threads and contact points with Shimano’s Anti-Seize Paste:
refit everything and set:
Plan E worked! The final bill to the customer was only £20 more – including the replacement seat-post.
That paper-cut a week later:
Made us smile:
So Lenin, no difference to capitalism then:
So “I Love Rock N Roll” wasn’t written by Joan Jett:
A very nice young man came to see us January 2020. We’ll call him Andrew (not his real name). He had just arrived in the UK, would be staying for a few years and wanted to tour various parts of Yorkshire & beyond. After listening to Andrew’s needs, RCE advised him upon; types of touring bikes, carrying capacities, gears ratios, handlebar shapes, frame materials & geometry, shifters, tyre size & puncture-resistance, etc.
Although Andrew had a budget of about £550.00, it was not enough for his ideal bike! No problem – RCE advised him on alternative shops and off he went – we never thought we’d see him again.
Lo and behold, a couple or three weeks later, he comes smiling into the shop with a possible candidate bike:
Andrew: “Thanks for all that info you gave me last time – it was really useful. OK, I’ve got this bike. I’ll need it looked at in detailed, a rear pannier rack, mudguards, bottle & holder, high-puncture-resistance tyres, and whatever you can advise me on. I have a £400.00 budget. What can you do for me?”.
RCE: “We’d spent a lot of time with you last time – without any recompense – that’s not an issue. Therefore, a) Thank You for acknowledging our help, b) Thank You for coming back and c) Thank You for the challenge. Looking forwards to it!”.
Andrew: “I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else. You know what you’re talking about and I trust you.”.
After a few more reciprocated ‘Thank You’s we agreed to carry out a detailed assessment (£12.50) of the candidate bike afore pumping a lot of £££s into the project.
Our assessment indicated that the following needed attention:
Headset (bearing where the forks go into the frame) – more grease,
Bottom bracket (bearing between the pedals) – take up wear’n’tear,
Wheels – re-tension and true,
Wheel hubs – take up wear,
Brake callipers – clean and take up wear on arms,
Gear systems (front & rear) – the bike came with gear ratios for racing – would need to change that if Andrew wanted to get up all the hill in Yorkshire and maintain a high speed on the levels and downhills,
Gear shifting – the existing shifters we’re on the downtube – not ideal, preferred position was shifting from the handle bars,
Tyres – the bike already had high-puncture-resistant 700x25C Schwalbe Marathons on – preferred choice was for 28C tyres, and,
Rack – being a vintage racing bike it does not have any upper-fastening facilities.
Of prime import was the gear ratios. The chainset (front cogs) was a ‘double’ with a 53T outer and a 48T inner, and, the freewheel (rear cogs) was 6-speed with 23T low gears and a 14T high gear. This gives:
lowest gear = 2.09 (48 divided by 23),
highest ratio = 3.79 (53 divided by 14), and
overall ratio = 181% (3.79 divided by 2.09). When we were kids, those ratios used to kill us – especially in our Pennines town.
As Andrew wanted braking & shifting from the handlebars, the only reasonable option was for Shimano Tourney Sti (Shimano Total Integration) brake/shifters. Unfortunately, these are only available in 7-speed (for, either a double or a triple chainset) and only for the appropriate 7-speed freewheels (unlike the one provided on the bike (a 1989 Sach Huret model – different spacing between sprockets). Further, even within Shimano’s range 6 and 7-speed, shifter cable-pull ratios and freewheel sprocket spacing are different – therefore, the two are NOT compatible. Meaning, that only a Shimano (or compatible) 7-speed freewheel could be used. Being wider than a 6-speed freewheel, question: would there be enough space on the rear spindle for a 7-speed one. And if not, what could we do about it? A test-fitting of a Shimano 7-speed freewheel 14/28T proved successful – without having to piss-about changing the rear axle.
Next task – the chainset. One cannot throw on any old chainset onto a square-taper bottom bracket. Some will sit too close the frame – perhaps hitting the frame or not allowing the front dérailleur (FD) to shift the the smallest sprocket. Counterwise, some will sit too far away from the frame and not allow the FD to shift to the biggest sprocket.
Another chainset consideration was that of using a double or a triple one. A triple would offer very wide ratios but require changing the FD for a triple-compatible model (and more £££s).
Final chainset consideration was that of crank length (the distance from the centre to where the pedals are). The existing chainset was 165mm – not ideal for Andrew’s leg length. A minimum length of 170mm was required.
So, what do do? Well, being the best bike workshop, this side of Nagasaki, RCE had over a 100 chainsets to select from. Narrowing down to 7-speed options, with (at least) a 170mm crank length) and with the correct profile to sit on the BB, narrowed down our options. After calculating gear ratios a further discussion with Andrew, we arrived upon a solution – 170mm, 50/42T double (a lightly-used Sakae with replaceable sprockets. The new gear rations:
lowest gear = 1.5 (42 divided by 28) (previously 2.09),
highest gear = 3.78 (50 divided by 14) (previously 3.79), and
overall ration of 230% (3.78 divided by 1.5) (previously 181%).
So, RCE managed to keep his highest gears ratio similar AND reduce the lowest gear ratio by a whopping 28% (that should get Andrew up all Yorkshire hills). A further 3% can be garnered with the extended crank length.
Gee, we’re good!
The existing rear dérailleur (RD) would not cope with a 28T freewheel and the replacement chainset ratio. A Shimano Tourney, correct cabling and special ferrules (for older frames) would be require.
Another major concern was the tyres – would a 28mm wide fit on the wheels, would the wheel sit the frame and then, can we then fit full mudguards? Being a proper vintage racer, this frame’s clearances were narrowly limited. Test fitting of 28C tyres and mudguards proved unsuccessful! (A lot or cursing ensued). The 25C tyres would stay and 28mm wide mudguards would (just) work.
But wait, we haven’t even priced out the project yet! Adding up the price of new components and our efforts gave us a figure of over £500.00 – beyond Andrew’s budget!
Even the option of lightly-used second-hand Tourney Stis and a second-hand rack still didn’t get to the £400.00 mark!
Only one thing to do – DISCOUNTS! Dealing with someone so nice, who was also buying all components from RCE, we were glad to make it affordable for Andrew!
Here’s the completed project after carrying the last 6 steps:
carry out works,
get Andrew back into the workshop to finalise the exact positions of the Stis, handlebars and stem,
fit bartape,
advise Andrew on correct use of gears, loading of rack, basic maintenance, security, etc.,
take our payment, and
get the bike back in after 50 to 100miles for final tweaking.
Although projects such as this one is just-another-day to us, we were proud-as-punch with our results. Though not as much as Andrew!
An Ecuadorian Astrophysicist (linked of the Atacama Observatory https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/ & Leeds Uni.) used to be a loyal customer of ours. During his stay in the UK, we looked after his beloved steed – a high-quality tourer (some very nice & expensive bits). Let’s call him “EA”.
About 3 years ago, this lovely, young gentleman’s stay with us was blighted!
Overnight, some b@$t@&d(s) had stolen his stem & handlebars (& expensive Shimano XT 9×3 shifter/brakes).
The following morning:
The poor soul was heart-broken – ‘in shock’.
We admit to being, a quite a-bit-more-than miffed.
All it took was a 5mm allen key and set of dull pliers. See the butchery on the cable:
What to do?
NOTE: today is an intensely-emotional one for EA – therefore, we will not allow him to make any big £££-based decisions today! However, he leaves knowing that RCE will assess the whole bike, before we talk again.
Then, RCE’s algorithm:
Identify options to avert the same thing happening again.
As authorised, proceed: provide componentry, fit, set, test, set, … until satisfied.
Guarantee works, return to customer
Adjust as required.
EA wanted drop-bars – with an option to change to butterfly-bars at a later stage. Fine, not a problem. Longer-that-optimal brake & gear cables were agreed on to allow for a cheaper changes.
The first choice of ‘anatomical’ drop bars proved be the only ‘try’ required. It took 2 attempts to find the correctly lengthed & angled stem. Another ‘option’ wasn’t really an option – being a Shimano 9×3 geared-bike, the agreed choice was for a set of Shimano’s Sora triples shifters. ‘Intermediate Brakes’ were also incorporated into the design. Finally, additional in-line brake adjusters allowed for the maximum brakepad-wear take-up – a missing original-design feature.
Before the bar-tape could be fitted, EA had be summoned to specify the exact positioning of the shifters (angle, height & reach, intermediate brakes positioning and handlebar angle:
Nearly there, but still …
What to do?
What to do about future theft? Well, there a couple of issues here:
Removal of the fork’s/stem’s top-cap allows for the removal of the whole handlebar assembly.
Removal of the stem’s front clamp bolts allows for the removal of the handlebars.
The second issue was that of the standard allen-socketed bolts for the handlebar clamp:
Stainless-steel, high-tension, extra-security, Pin Torx bolts were agreed upon for this application. The customer was also handed the required tool for his own use.
Now, it’s finished:
Total cost (at the time): £400-ish (ouch!). But:
much cheaper than a replacement bike of the same quality & wear, and
customised exactly to the owner’s needs!
The bike was last seen commuting across the Atacama Desert, Chile – with a big grin on EA’s face.
A bit o’ fun:
Fancy a bit of Australian rock music? Unlike AC/DC (saw them in 1979, with Bon Scott), we missed out on the following band the first time round. Shame on us! Hope you enjoy:(RADIO BIRDMAN – “Aloha Steve And Danno” official music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmH0OeDLGEE)
Here’s a wee project we did for “M”, a FOST (Friends of the shop). Summer 2019.
At RCE, we’re quite lucky. We meet some of the best people. “M” is a thoroughly honourable person and has been a loyal customer for about 2 decades. We’ve looked after his various steeds. However, the latest one …
… has got to be “put down”!
If you look closely at the above pic, you may notice the fatal injury:That’s right, the downtube committed suicide!
Aluminium welding isn’t cheap and, perhaps not suitable for this issue.
M asked RCE to ‘mate’ the Ridgeback with a Lamborghini, The one he’d brought along:
Wow! The name & ‘The Raging Bull’ logo conjurers images of the Countachs, Panteras and tractors.
Loving such a challenge, RCE was eager to help.
The algorithm:
Assess all aspects of both bikes (components, dimensions, compatibility, alignments, wear, ratios, intended-use, etc.).
Identify the best & compatible components to-be-kept.
Identify works require to to-be-kept components (e.g. re-tension & true front wheel).
Identify new parts required (e.g. rear wheel).
Talk £££s.
Fully strip-down the necessary organs of the Ridgeback.
Fully strip-down the necessary organs of the Lambo.
We first appreciated the song back in the mid-’70s, from this Japanese imported LP (bought as second-hand, but obviously unplayed). Every tune & note does ‘it’ for us:
Well the new website’s, rough & ready though it is, is up at: https://rceuk.co.uk/.
New opening times for 2020:
Weekdays: 11am – 7pm (closed on Thursdays)
Saturdays: 10am – 4pm (closed Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays).
If we’re NOT OPEN when we’re meant to be, we’re either: dead, dying, or busy around the back.
RCE’s 2020 Recuperations, Recreations and Holidays:
We have a lot of mottos – one of them is: “Products Kills The Planet!”
Some would say “that’s a bit unusual for a shop”. True, we’ve always been ‘UNUSUAL’:
We’re into fixing shit, NOT CONsuming shite
So, we just couldn’t resist ‘borrowing’ this from our friend:
Who’s this friend? None other than David Icke (http://www.davidicke.com). Yes, David Icke, the footballer & sport commentator. You know, the one we used to LAUGH AT. the one we used to RIDICULE and the one we thought was a NUT-JOB.
Well, read ALL of the rest of his learnings & wisdom and tell us who should be LAUGHED AT, who should be RIDICULED and who really are the NUT-JOBS. Remember, it was David who exposed Jimmy Saville years ago (whilst the paedo was still alive).
Last Thursday, thieving parasites (no, not the government) broke in and stole 10 bikes and goods.
Now, it bears repeating, IT’S IN ALL OUR INTERESTS
a) NOT to buy any stolen goods, and
b) to help apprehend the scum.
If you knowingly buy from a thief, you are a thief.
So, call the cops if you come across:
Titus X Alloy Large, 2010 used bike, Rockshox Sid fork, KCNC bars, seat post, 5 arm 94bcd crank, SLR flow saddle
Titus X Titanium, medium, probably only 2 or 3 in the UK, 2010 used bike, , DT XCM100 Twinshot fork, KCNC bars, seat post, 5 arm 94bcd crank, American Classic hubs, Race 7000 front rim with red nipples, Podium rear with black nipples, XX cassette, SLR flow saddle
Torus Ti29sd – titanium 29er, 17″ frame, prototype frame so unique, sliding sliver alloy dropouts, Fox F29 Terralogic fork, Ti flat bar, Ti seat post, green Chris King hubs with black spokes, green nipples and black Crest rims, KCNC 5 arm 94bcd crank single ring, Hope Race Evo brakes.
Burls Custom Built Ti frame, 17″ frame, 26″ wheel mtb – complete bike, totally uniuqe – new! DT XCM100 singleshot fork, Custom built wheels with American Classic hubs, supercomp spokes, black nipples and Crest rims, KCNC bars, seat post, 5 arm 94bcd crank with cobweb chainrings, and KCNC X7 black brakes, SLR flow saddle.
The above were custom-built and are very unique – with custom built wheels easily identifiable. These bike are all very rare, the Torus and Burls are one of a kind. Please let us know if you see or hear of anything suspicious like un-badged titanium 26 and 29 frames.
Stock bikes stolen were:
MSC WCS29 mtb white/blue Large, blue anodised hubs, rims, bars.
![Twerk[4].jpg](https://rceblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/twerk4.jpg)
That’s right, the downtube committed suicide! 
