Recent content by AaronM

Start engine. Enlarge hole with small file until larger bearing fits.

I was going to see if the MBW guy (Shane?) comes to the Deep South as my bike is about the same size as both cars in the household and of the two the one that is capable of carrying stuff is broken.

Front and yes, the LBS didn’t set up the original well, so it moved out of position on the frame, caught the rear of the cage on the chai wheel and literally bent the pin that the entire assembly pivoted on. Their fix (on a bike that was ~100km old) was to twist it back, tighten and adjust. It...

Agreed, Park Tool make some great videos. I’ve also bought the exact right tools so doing things is easier and I get a good result on the macro level. What I’m having issues with is the finer aspects of derailleur adjustment :) where my lack of experience is hurting and I really need to just...

Thanks. I’ve sorted 99% of my issues myself, and to be honest I’m extremely happy with the size/fit of my Merida Big-Nine. The low rent wheels didn’t cope and buckled up quick with my weight, but some entry level Shimano wheels I swapped to are rock solid. The bike had a few initial assembly...

As someone who got back on a bike a year ago and now is being frustrated by the “industry” to the point of not bothering to ride. Entry level bikes that aren’t up to the task. That’s a combo of XL frame and 110kg rider bending stuff on dirt trails. Horrid after sales support. LBS (chainstore...

I’m a mechanic, I learnt it from YouTube

Thanks. The bike is part of the permanent life change thing. About 10 years ago I realised I was working in a windowless building with 450 (mostly dudes) overweight people who were drinking Coke from 7am and blowing close to $40k a year on chocolates from the “staff club”. I’ve never been into...

Basic Bryton here too, good for time and distance tracking while riding. Sync when I get home and get real proof that I’m slow, out of condition and hardly climbed higher than a gutter ;). Perfect. Don’t even take the phone. (Apple Watch Cellular is my “call the wife to rescue me” device...

A week or so ago I got 99Bikes to price-beat BikeBug on some Maxxis CrossmarkII. Had settled on getting a pair of these onto the bike partly as a “hey I survived a year of re-learning to ride” and “I really want to put on my new rear wheel that I’d bought after the Bush-full-of-bees stack that...

Quite true. China has the domestic market volume to be able to throw hundreds of iterative improvements in EV design and build in incredibly short cycles. Nice to see the “comfort” level improved to a level that suits the range. The day we can do a CBR-SYD return trip without recharge and...

I would question how well it actually does work together. It probably makes him happy though and that’s ok.

New rear stance, no additional camber :) but 20mm total track increase.

It’s 60mm on the 2.3L Duratecs (Mondeo, Escape and The Mazda SP23/Mazda6), 55mm stock on a 2.0L. ChinaBay throttle bodies are cheap, and when the electronics ends up not being as smooth swapping the internals of the genuine article works fine. I’ve spent some time around Duratecs so that made...

If I accumulate some spare cash I’ll go a gearbox refresh with LSD if only because I think of all the modifications it’s one that will keep the car “fun” on-road and actually hold some resale cachet. Maybe a a Flex pipe in the exhaust and proper cat-back for now. Overall though I am using it to...