Reading the BSC insta yesterday got me thinking about engineered solutions to tasks in the workshop. He (BSC) is introducing a top cap adapter to use a mech hanger alignment tool to set up brake/shifter/dropper levers on the bars so that they are uniform. I currently use a spirit level and steel rule.

Today a customer asked about lining up saddle and bars – this got us thinking. Laser line would work but so would drilling a 1.5mm hole in a top cap bolt and putting a gear cable through – cheap and effective!

Any other ideas like this that you use on a daily basis?

The BSC tool is a take on this:
Lever Setter

I don’t use this every day but it addresses the problem of where to keep your bars while the fork is removed for servicing.

It’s made up of a bit of bar turned to 1.125″ diameter attached via a plate to a photographic clamp.

Have plenty of 6mm allen keys and 10mm sockets and spanners – they hide

6mm allen? surely you mean 5mm?

whatever one it is goes in an M6 bolt!

The BSC tool is a take on this:
Lever Setter

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m a firm believer in the saying “he who has the most tools wins”
But that’s being filed in the useless tat, never to see the light of day box.
I’ve never fitted brake levers and thought. What I need is some tool to align these. I can fit em, eye em up and give a quick check/squeeze and they are perfect.

A solution for a problem that I don’t think exists.

People need a tool to angle brake levers?

For fork servicing, we just have a load of old forks with the stanchions cut off!

Make sure your kettles on.

And don’t be afraid to walk away and come back to a job. Nowt worse than frustration for **** stuff up

Silicon spray on a valve core before it’s inserted into the valve will stop it getting bunged up with sealant at a later date.

An old TV wall mounting frame can be utilised for a fold away bike stand.

Never lend your tools out

Make sure your kettles on.

And don’t be afraid to walk away and come back to a job. Nowt worse than frustration for **** stuff up

This is good advice. Don’t know how much that lever setting tool is, but I’ll bet it’ll pay for a lot of tea bags.

@oldschool when a customer and for levers at X mm and y degrees then how do you do that?

Make sure any invested parties are out of the house when servicing forks in the living room.

Be careful to cover top cap with a rag when vigorously removing a rebound rod, to prevent oily stains on the ceiling.

…two unrelated points, of course 😳

when a customer and for levers at X mm and y degrees then how do you do that?

Do customers actually do that?

I use the Smart Tools app on my phone for lever angles, and a measuring tape for position and contact. I’m quite sensitive to things not being right, or being different on each side, so for me it’s worth a couple of minutes with these to get it perfect first time and no mid-ride faff/tweaking.

3D print a cage-lock widget for your Shimano mech.

And don’t be afraid to walk away and come back to a job. Nowt worse than frustration for **** stuff up

I wonder how many tubeless tyres have magically seated after a cup of tea and a biscuit.

[You’ve got to be kidding me].this + [when a customer ask for levers at X mm and y degrees then how do you do that?] tell them you did it with magic crystals…

Spoke keys work as presta valve removers.

I use the offcut of a steerer tube to swap my bars to.

A moto suspension guru friend of mine gets his customers to loosed clamps, shut eyes and set levers to feel.

Removing stuck XD cassettes from freehubs is easier by pulling the whole freehub and using a vice and two bolts than a chainwhip.

Always wear safety glasses when seating tubeless tyres 🙂

Today a customer asked about lining up saddle and bars – this got us thinking. Laser line would work but so would drilling a 1.5mm hole in a top cap bolt and putting a gear cable through – cheap and effective!

On the night of the full moon, point the bike towards the North Star and align the saddle with Uranus.

If you have a compressor and are setting up tyres tubeless. After fitting the tyre, remove the valve core and use an air gun/jet thingy (not the inflator) held directly on the valve. You can use a piece of tubing to make a good seal but probably not necessary. Give a good blast and marvel at how it all pops into place in seconds. Careful not to over inflate! If you are careful you can stick a finger over the valve, recover the valve core and screw it back in and the tyre will remain inflated and ready to ride! I have never had an issue with seating any tyre in seconds using this method.

When a customer and for levers at X mm and y degrees then how do you do that?

I would stongly insist they GET IN THE SEA!!!

DrP

When they’ve paid for a bike fit, paid thousands fit frame and components, then they can demand what they want 👍

When they’ve paid for a bike fit, paid thousands fit frame and components, then they can demand what they want 👍

Once you’ve finished a tube of High5 electrolyte tablets, the tube works perfectly as a stem/bar holder for when you need to remove the fork.

Today a customer asked about lining up saddle and bars – this got us thinking. Laser line would work but so would drilling a 1.5mm hole in a top cap bolt and putting a gear cable through – cheap and effective!

Even cheaper and faster is a bit of string and a knot.

I have a couple of ball bungees, ideal for being a third hand, holding up bars/wheels/whatever.

Stem/bar holder is a bungy cord hanging down from ceiling.

GT85 lids for keeping bolts together, scooping sealant out of tyres, transferring brake oil to a syringe and a million other uses.

Good lighting, whatever you think you need double it and have a small work light nearby to point at fiddly jobs.

Create an upstand around the edge of the floor, you will drop screws and washers and they will roll across the floor and under something too heavy or awkward to move. A little upstand stops this and makes it easier to keep clean too.

Magnetic bowls are handy.

My pro tip is : don’t let the kids in there, in fact don’t let anyone else in unless they pay a large upfront deposit.

Upside down cable ties make good temporary holders for lightweight stuff.

I wanted to check the hanger alignment before I fitted a new cassette so had to take the mech off. I used an upside down cable tie to lash the mech to the chain stay and hold it out of the way. Once I was done I just slid the cable tie back off and it was perfectly re-usable.

@oldschool when a customer and for levers at X mm and y degrees then how do you do that?

How often is this asked for? I’m guessing 99.9% of people don’t.
If I had a request for it, I’d knock something up with straight edge, string, protractor and a full moon on the third Sunday of the 13th month.
For repeatability for a pro racer, maybe it would have a place and you are replacing/swapping bars and stems for different stages or something. But for the majority I’ll bet they don’t know what angle they run shifters, nor care.
Is it comfortable ✔️. Job jobbed.

Never have the trauma of using a chain whip again.

For lever positions etc. I just use a steel rule, inclinometer app on phone and write it all on a bit of paper… seems less faff than replacing a top cap and buggering around with a mech hanger gauge.

As for lining up a saddles and handlebars – good old MK1 eyeball!

Or you could get one of these from DNR Designs:

Never have the trauma of using a chain whip again.

This, but the lower tech, equally helpful, considerably cheaper version from Decathlon.

This one: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip-cassette-remover/_/R-p-200?mc=8309913

Silicone modeling tubing cans be used for adding tubeless sealant and brake fluid but is also good for stopping frame rub if you slip a bit over a cable and is easier to use than grommets for internal run cables or stealth dropper cables.

Chain whip pliers are great, I wish I knew they existed earlier!

This, but the lower tech, equally helpful, considerably cheaper version from Decathlon.

This one: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip-cassette-remover/_/R-p-200?mc=8309913

So is this spanner actually quite large with the hole large enough for the cassette tool to go through the middle?

I pondered over how to hold onto a removed set of handlebars and stem until I had a startling revelation:

If the shifter and brakes are already attached then there are cables you can hang the bars on! How cool is that?!?

So is this spanner actually quite large with the hole large enough for the cassette tool to go through the middle?

Well it would be pretty useless if it wasn’t.

This, but the lower tech, equally helpful, considerably cheaper version from Decathlon.

yeah I actually have this one: Super B TB-FW50 £17

https://outlet.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/bicycle-accessories/tools/super-b-premium-tbfw50-chain-whip-grips-1023-teeth

I just thought I’d link to the original.

Its really solid and will not slip on the tightest of cassettes / freewheels.

So is this spanner actually quite large with the hole large enough for the cassette tool to go through the middle?

Yes, otherwise… as squirrelking says 😉

Spoke keys work as presta valve removers.

I thought that was particularly inspired, but no spoke key I own is big enough for a valve core.

You can get a nice aluminium anodised valve tool on eBay for a couple of quid. Works well

@bikerevivesheffield after a thread you posted on a while ago I added some brake disc alignment things. Thanks.

@thols2

On the night of the full moon, point the bike towards the North Star and align the saddle with Uranus.

This made me chuckle