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Blindingly Obvious ...
 

Blindingly Obvious Things You Somehow Missed

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[#13535410]

Removed a Hope BSA30 bottom bracket from one of the bikes today and set it aside.

The drive side cup is longer than the non drive side. It's obvious as the drive side always has one more spacer than the non drive side so of course it's longer. Somehow, I've never noticed this before.

What blindingly Obvious Things have you missed?


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 8:06 pm
Posts: 21001
 

Many moons ago, after spending hours trying, and failing, to fit some Panaracer Fire DH tyres I picked up mega cheap I saw, in big white print on the black and red sidewalls…

24x2.4


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:00 pm
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Haha, I assume that was NOT a 24" wheel!


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:14 pm
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 It was not 😐 


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:17 pm
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Eldest next bike. I was replacing the bearings on the rear wheel. I spent ages trying to knock out the axel with emails to the company, only to then discover it needed a hex key to unscrew it. 


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:19 pm
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Maxles are really easy to adjust. Years of rubbish qr sorted in less than two minutes.


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:36 pm
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Posted by: jamiemcf

I was replacing the bearings on the rear wheel. I spent ages trying to knock out the axel with emails to the company, only to then discover it needed a hex key to unscrew it. 

You've reminded me of my bearing change on a Hope freehub back in the 90s.  I was hammering the shit out of that thing before I realised how much easier it would be if I removed the circlip first


 
Posted : 04/05/2026 9:45 pm
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Definitely did the bearing thing with a Kona Hei Hei Trail. Even bought a blind bearing tool trying to get it out. Eventually found a diagram buried deep in a forum that explained there was some kind of two sized Allen key set up going on.

 I don’t think it was all that obvious though. There was no way of seeing it was the case even shining a torch.


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 2:47 am
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Riding around a couple of years ago I Couldn’t work out why my back wheel was all squiggly and gears wouldn’t index or work as they should at all

Got home and decided to look into what was causing the issue to find the rear axle sticking out a good half inch  😖 


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 4:32 am
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I rode behind a friend once who had the axle sticking out like that. It took me a while of thinking "Is that some kind of intentional design to protect the frame?" Then i mentioned it to him and it turned out the LBS hadn't done it up properly. The same LBS that didn't fully tighten handlebars on a new build another friend crashed at the first corner he went around... and the same LBS who didn't fully tighten up the crank arm on the other friend's new bike.


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 4:44 am
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This thread won’t be truly complete until @Northwind turns up. 

😉


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 6:38 am
 beej
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Quarq powermeter kept reporting low/critical battery level and dropping signal, even with a new battery in.

I hadn't done the cover up properly.


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 7:35 am
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Replaced some 23c with 28c on the road bike last week in a bid for a bit more comfort. Refitted the front wheel and it rubbed the top of the forks, slightly off centre but never a problem with the narrower tyres previously. So off I go to find some youtube videos on re-dishing to pull it across slightly. First step on the video is "check the wheel is properly in the dropouts first". Yeah right, I'm not that stupid... goes to check anyway... oops. Ah well, all fixed and no spoke adjustment needed now 😀 


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 10:10 am
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Torque values, for about 25 years.


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 10:13 am
 IHN
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I once had a stuck rear shifter. Decided that the best thing to do was take it apart at the side of the track (it's not like shifters are full of little springs and screws or anything, what could go wrong?).

Flipped bike onto seat/bars. Took shifter apart. Realised I'd taken the front shifter apart...


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 10:18 am
 Drac
Posts: 50626
 

Our youngest came downstairs late one night last week with part of the bathroom light switch in her hand that had broken away. I ordered a new one to be collected from Screwfix the next day.

After collecting it, disabling the power to the upstairs light, hunting out tools and step ladders off I go to repair it. Came up with genius idea that I only needed to replace the outer part, not unscrew and rewire the base, was dead please with myself after doing that. Then I realised all i need to was it tie the original pull cord back on and never needed a new switch. 


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 10:20 am
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After a lot of backwards & forwards wondering why I couldn't get any fresh brake fluid through the brake I was trying to bleed I realised I was following the correct procedure but doing it on the front lever & rear caliper 🙄


 
Posted : 05/05/2026 10:21 am
Drac reacted