On your Bike

[CitroJim]

I’ve bought another bike ….

Superb This needs a picture or two Skull

Mine is getting old now, well-meaning friends consider it is time to pension it off and get a new one.

Here it is before they invented colour....

I love this bike and despite it's great age, it's going nowhere. It has the distinction of being a custom build and has the original version of Ultegra Di2* fitted - a real revolution in its day

It's still works very well even if it does lack the bells and whistles of the latest versions of Di2... On the plus-side its battery lasts forever...

It had tremendous brakes too, due to custom calipers and carbon wheels with alloy brake tracks... And lastly, it's feather-light and fast

* Electronic gears...

[Skull]

This needs a picture or two Skull

…

Skull's - Cannondale F900SX

Cannondale F900SX - modified from a 'lefty' with front rim brake Head-Shok Fatty 'D' forks.

I'm not expecting too much for £50 but so far I have found a couple of things need attention before a decent ride out:
Head bearings need tightening or replacing.
Front Vee brake not releasing on one side - strip, clean, lube?
Front Vee brake threaded adjuster is badly stripped.
Pedals will be changed for flat ones as I mainly ride on road.
Other than that it looks OK - weighs 26Ibs - No Batteries Required Jim .

Just for you Jim .

Skull's - B&W arty

[Skull]

I've tried to have a play to tighten up the bearing slack which makes the forks judder when the front brake is applied, there doesn't seem to be lots of information out there on this system.

Does there look like something is missing from this picture of the headset - the top bearing looks over-exposed to the elements and I can't see how the pre-load could be applied with the gap between the top cap and the head tube?

Maybe it just needs a spacer and a bearing cover but the top cap - a knurled cap is only plastic and operates the lockout and also is a similar diameter as the stem - no overlap

Skull's - head shok headset

Tool required for removing headshok cartridge unit if anyone has one in their collection I could loan?

Tool - Leonardi Factory

[CitroJim]

Maybe it just needs a spacer and a bearing cover but the top cap - a knurled cap is only plastic and operates the lockout and also is a similar diameter as the stem - no overlap

Whilst I'm not familiar with this exact species of bike, all mine do have a collar and spacers between the top bearing and the steerer so that adequate pre-load can be applied to the bearings and the correct steerer stack-height can be obtained... The top bit should be able to be screwed down tightly enough, with spacers, to enable the correct pre-load to be achieved...

I'd say there's a collar and some spacers missing... I had just this on a TT bike I once purchased for a silly price. It's horrible to ride with loose headstock bearings...

Speaking of TT bikes, last evening, as I'm not quite fit enough yet to race again I went to a local TT race meeting and took a few photos...

FOMO struck and I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the camera lens very soon

[Skull]

This needs a picture or two Skull

…

Cannondale F900SX - modified from a 'lefty' with front rim brake Head-Shok Fatty 'D' forks.

I'm not expecting too much for £50 [or am I ] but so far I have found a couple of things need attention before a decent ride out:
Head bearings need tightening or replacing.
Other than that it looks OK - weighs 26Ibs - No Batteries Required Jim .

Just for you Jim .

Maybe it just needs a spacer and a bearing cover but the top cap - a knurled cap is only plastic and operates the lockout and also is a similar diameter as the stem - no overlap

Whilst I'm not familiar with this exact species of bike, all mine do have a collar and spacers between the top bearing and the steerer so that adequate pre-load can be applied to the bearings and the correct steerer stack-height can be obtained... The top bit should be able to be screwed down tightly enough, with spacers, to enable the correct pre-load to be achieved...

I'd say there's a collar and some spacers missing...

Cheers Jim I'll have to search out a (alloy ?) set specific to the lockout system as that plastic knob still needs to rotate to operate whilst still allowing some pre-load which is what's confusing me and then once it's pre-loaded I'll be able to feel if the bearings are still servicable ...

[CitroJim]

That was a great buy for £50 Skull and at that price a few issues are no problem at all

'No batteries required' Love it When I go for a ride I have more batteries on the go than a Tesla: Di2 gears, heart rate monitor, power meter, rear radar/ light, Garmin and front camera/light

Happily, all but the HRM and power meter are rechargeable although I still get through a good few CR2032s over the course of a year...

[Skull]

Speaking of TT bikes, last evening, as I'm not quite fit enough yet to race again I went to a local TT race meeting and took a few photos...

FOMO struck and I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the camera lens very soon [ ]

There's a few squids worth there I bet

Very crisp captures Jim

[CitroJim]

Speaking of TT bikes, last evening, as I'm not quite fit enough yet to race again I went to a local TT race meeting and took a few photos...

FOMO struck and I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the camera lens very soon [ ]

There's a few squids worth there I bet

Gosh yes! I reckon all the bikes put together would be getting on for about a quarter of a million And on top of that, all the kit...

[Skull]

I've tried to have a play to tighten up the bearing slack which makes the forks judder when the front brake is applied….

Maybe it just needs a spacer and a bearing cover but the top cap - a knurled cap is only plastic and operates the lockout and also is a similar diameter as the stem - no overlap

After much research it appears these Head-Shok systems DON’T have any pre-load so I got the hammer and a deep matching diameter (138mm ish) cylinder out of my bush/ball joint kit and hit it several times …

RESULT

I think as a result of the ‘adjustment’ the top bearing has now seated deeper, maybe the lower bearing too but I didn’t examine or hit that end (yet), there’s still a tiny bit of movement stationary but once loaded with my massive god-like body it’s rideable…so that’s what I did - a little fly infested ride provided light refreshments in flight. The gears change better than my Huffy so that will be my winter bike now - sorted although I still think it needs a top bearing cover but not many 1 1/2” or 1.56” headsets around - depending on who you believe!

Skull’s - shakedown ride

27-speed !

Skull’s - reseated top bearing

Note the clean line - mainly from the top bearing I think!

Happy FCF Days

[CitroJim]

Excellent! Well done Skull Pleased that's resolved...

Been out on my bike today, enjoying a bit of warmer weather... I was chasing a TT racing friend of mine doing her structured training. Gosh, did she ever make me work hard... Averaging 16 watts!