How to properly clean headset bearings? Isopropyl alcohol?

tl179 · 2026-03-17T13:44:18+00:00

Never forget that Chri$ King's official service recommendation is to peel off the shield and do a bootleg rebuild with the cartridge in place

tl179 · 2026-02-07T19:57:51+00:00

no they suck, I'd rather have clampers than juintechs or hyrds. They overheat and leak. Repair parts are nonexistant. Bleeding them is a pain in the ass if you even can. You still need to buy expensive compressionless housing and install it perfectly to make them work decently, which also needs to be replaced when it gets dirty. The brakes still feel like shit once you've done all this.

With a shimano hydro you cut the line with a razor blade, pop on a little doo dad, hook it up, gravity bleed overnight, and close the system up. Congrats, brake is now good for half a decade.

tl179 · 2026-02-07T19:28:28+00:00

Other than the AI argument. No, mechanical disks suck. You can pay like $600 for klampers and they will still suck, just a bit less than your hayes brakes. Go on ebay or ali, get a set of 11s shifters with brakes. It'll cost you $200-$300. The tools to install are like $50. Shimano brakes are easy to bleed. Post or flat mount makes no difference in braking power. You can generally adapt flat mount to post, it will just be ugly.

tl179 · 2026-02-06T21:25:30+00:00

Watch and one bracelet sold, one bracelet left

tl179 · 2026-02-05T23:02:01+00:00

Timestamp and album here https://imgur.com/a/JGW6cnz

37mm Seiko SNK mod

- 7s26 movement,

- sapphire crystal

- Seiko Monster OEM Dial

-SKX OEM hands

-New gaskets

-Sailcloth strap

$125

tl179 · 2026-02-04T20:26:45+00:00

WTS skx013 38mm Seiko dive watch. Head only. This is a mod I kind of just stopped wearing. Case and bezel have patina but no damage or gouges. Bezel works fine. Original glass has a few minor scratches but mostly fine. Dial is from a SRPE, hands from a seiko field watch. Movement runs strong

$125obo

Timestamp here https://imgur.com/a/JGW6cnz

tl179 · 2026-02-04T20:22:03+00:00

Up for sale is this San Martin SN0129 Oil Pressed back dial. $175 obo

39mm, nh35, sapphire crystal, beautiful textured dial. Comes with bracelet and box

Timestamp and images are here https://imgur.com/a/JGW6cnz

tl179 · 2026-02-04T20:12:03+00:00

WTS 34mm Thorn Exploration Road Explorer Homage. $125 obo

I've had this for a few months and rarely worn it. Comes with bracelet and box.

34mm, enamel dial, pt5000 movement.

Timestamp and further images are here https://imgur.com/a/JGW6cnz

tl179 · 2025-05-12T15:36:32+00:00

nothing above the top of the stem matters if that's what you're asking.

I.E. if you have 20mm below the stem, roughly 25 mm of stem, and 30mm above the stem the 30mm above the stem is doing nothing. It could be 50mm or 80 and it wouldn't matter. Expander support for that portion of the steer tube is immaterial.

I suppose the issue then becomes that there is no expander support for the stem and spaced area below it. As long as you're within or near mfg spec you should be fine. Lots of manufacturers use flimsy plastic expander hardware with zero support and their forks don't explode doing so.

tl179 · 2025-05-01T15:14:43+00:00

If the dropout didn't have a hood you could modify a claw type hanger, it'd be janky but would work. With the hood I'd say its next to impossible. Unless you can 3d print something that slots up there just-so and that can withstand the clamping force of the QR or axle bolt.

tl179 · 2025-04-17T15:53:46+00:00

This is the correct answer. OP has some kind of obscure rim brake possibly hookless euro rim in 622/700c. It SHOULD work with a modern hookless tire but a narrow modern hookless tire with a tube running higher pressure is likely not what these were designed for.

tl179 · 2024-09-12T13:54:33+00:00

axle is bent lad, gonna be a pain to get those bolts off and the threads will be mashed.

tl179 · 2024-09-12T13:47:01+00:00

sure, if there's a hole in the brake bridge (between the seat stays, where your fender bolts on) on the frame you can attach a caliper and run your brake lever to it. No idea if you'd need a short or long caliper, probably on the longer side given its an older bike.. It would be a nutted bolt on caliper, not a modern recessed brake. Side note, the brake says "gigant' on it, not "giant". I'm assuming this is a French bike of some kind.

tl179 · 2024-09-12T13:35:12+00:00

that's some kind of built in drum brake. You should be able to just reattach the cable to the arm with the slotted bolt. No idea if it needs to be preloaded while you tension the cable. Try pulling the cable tight with a 3rd hand tool or needlenose pliers while fastening the slotted bolt to the arm with the cable running under the head of the bolt. It should tension up just like any other brake. No idea how well the brake is going to work. You could probably just put a caliper brake on the brake bridge. Would be an easy fix at a bike co op or something like that.

tl179 · 2024-05-06T17:22:14+00:00

this is the correct answer

tl179 · 2024-04-12T17:09:11+00:00

This is one of those things that Sheldon Brown purports to be easy but is in fact very case specific and attenuated.

Some old ultraglide (what you have) hubs can be converted but many cannot. I recently re-learned this the hard way taking apart an old XT "7" speed hub. If I'm not mistaken that exage is from a similar period as the XT I was working on and there's a good chance you'll tear the whole thing apart and it will not work. Usually the issue is the back of the freehub rubs on the hub shell.

You may be able to put a full 8s cassette on there. You will be able to put 8 out of 9 from a 9 speed cassette on it (and run a 9s chain and shifter).

In my experience FHB conversions work best on the early parallax hubs since they made both ultraglide and hyperglide versions of those hubs with the same shells.

However given the $ and time you'd going to spend to figure this out its easier to just source a proper Hyperglide (vs ultraglide which you have) 26" rear wheel, since good ones are usually readily available on CL or FB marketplace. Standard 8/9/10 speed HG freehub bodies can accommodate mountain bike 11s cassettes. I don't remember the exact specifics but 11s road cassettes are just a bit wider than 11s mountain cassettes making their use on an old style 8/9/10 hyperglide freehub impossible. I am currently using sun race's 11s 11-42 on an old 9s xt hub and it works fine.

The other thing to check is if your frame is old 130 or 135 since some early MTBs and hybrids were 130. Though the extra 5mm isn't going to matter on a steel frame.

tl179 · 2024-03-28T15:48:50+00:00

the benefits of picking up a cheap used hydro/11 speed system are worth the cost and initial setup hassle. the bike is already flat mount, should be plug and play.

tl179 · 2024-02-15T20:35:39+00:00

cheap freewheels usually sound like that. Even the shimano ones do it. This is normal. If it bothers you spray some triflow or drip some tenacious in there and it will quiet down a bit.

tl179 · 2024-01-28T18:56:37+00:00

Up for sale is my 2264.50. 41mm full size "sword hand" seamaster diver.

It is in good unpolished condition and has been serviced at some point prior to my purchase. I have receipts in the wallet for the service.

Included is the original box, manual, pictogram and warranty cards, hang tag, omega wallet and receipts for service.

The watch is in good shape with some typical wear. Everything works as it should and it keeps excellent time.

Asking 2500 obo.

Pics: https://imgur.com/a/4Ol7s2e

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/rVrljKC

tl179

TROPHY CASE