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Yesterday I switched from semi-metal back to the OE pads in front. With the right tools, it was my smoothest replacement yet. I put my collapsible stool by the front wheel, set at about 12". On a chair beside the stool I put: OE pads and spring, H5 ball-end hex key of good hard steel, spreader...

Remember these? They didn't always work for me. I bought an electric impact driver as an easy way to remove a blade under a mower up on ramps. I don't use it. My usual go-tos are a Craftsman #2 Phillips with an 8" shaft and an unlabeled Klein with a 7" shaft. I like to put a palm on the end of...

I’ve had my Aventon Abound nearly 2 years. Sometimes there was a creak that seemed to come from the hinge of the fold-down steering stem. Lubing didn’t fix it permanently. Recently it got worse. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from the steering head, the boxy down tube, the battery in the...

Some say the camming out was not intentional. I think it was. Ford wanted workers to use power tools, and overtorquing could ruin a hole in sheet metal or wood. I'm not sure if the standard drywall screw is Phillips. If it is, maybe it's because camming out can prevent damage.

If I needed a certain 1/4" socket, I might have to check several sets. If it's in a set, it can take time to find the right one. If a set turns over, sorting can take several minutes. So I bought a heavy, well labeled, magnetic holder. Sockets from various sets have filled most of the holes.

Aagh, Phillips! As a technician in 1972 I discovered what we called Reed and Prince. It was a Frearson, invented in England in the 19th Century and produced by Reed and Prince of Worcester MA. The screws were common enough that I kept both kinds of drivers in my tool box. They didn’t cam out...

I hadn't known the Bike Farmer to swear until a customer talked him into installing tubeless tires. I believe he calls them a custom hack. He says bike mechanics often refuse to perform custom hacks because they aren't worth the hassle.

My Aventon display says in the last 60.8 miles I've saved 18 kg of CO2 and 3.3 trees. Similarly, the efficiency figure for your motor might not be based on output measurements. When controllers measure wattage, I think it's usually volts and amps from the battery. Motor output would be more...

https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-100V-Display-Multimeter-Voltmeter/dp/B013PKYILS I checked amazon for "DC watt meter." They're likely to tell volts, amps, watts, and watt hours. Some use Hall sensors so you don't need to put a shunt in the line. With a hub motor and cadence PAS, motor output...

I calculate motor output by seeing the terminal speed up a known grade on throttle alone. If I want to test PAS power, I ghost pedal instead. I ignore rolling resistance and air drag. Newtons of propulsion (on the pavement) is gross weight in kg times percent grade times g (9.8). Meters per...

When my neighbor sees me down on the ground working on a bike, he'll offer me his shop. Sometimes laying a bike on its side is the best way to see and reach, and the lawn won't scratch my bike or me. A pocket magnet used to be a good way to find a dropped fastener, but now they're often...

Several times since then I've heard a brief rattling like a piece of that wire picked up by a tire and hitting a fender. I circle and look, and whatever it was remains invisible, like a short piece of fine wire thrown several feet. They're out to get me!!!o_O

Not long ago, I checked my rear brake because it sounded scratchy. I saw a fine wire sticking out of the caliper. It was something I'd never encountered: 2 inches of 0.6mm saw wire, used in tiny coping saws to cut materials like glass. I don't know how it got on the street or how I picked it up...

“There was never a horse that couldn’t be rode, and never a cowboy that couldn’t be throwed.” I started riding English bikes in first grade and had probably pedaled well over 20,000 miles when I finished high school. In those days, men over 20 usually rode English bikes, and the death toll per...

I like the kind of LED headlamp with a voltage regulator, but the kind that runs directly off 3 AAA cells dims over a period of many hours, giving me plenty of warning. I guess your tail light is like that.

It's disappointing to buy a 10oz caulking tube of stuff, use half an ounce, and later find the rest ruined. I've had better luck if I smeared the nozzle with silicone grease, covered it with foil, and used a zip tie to secure the foil against the grease. @PCeBiker told us about a device that...

I tried that with my Radmission after I discovered that the tail light did not have a reflector lens. I figured in that case I should run a second tail light. I bought a rechargeable headlight/taillight pair. The headlight showed the percent remaining, and a taillight charge was supposed to last...

I'm sure they shorted when I mashed them under the center stand mounting. With the extension, I can see if the circuit still gets power, then put the splice in a shielded location. If the circuit is dead, I don't really need a tail, brake, or turn light, just reflectors. If I want it to work, I...

In August, 2024 I ordered two 50ml bottles of "5210 Solder Multi-material repair adhesive Oil based glue." It turned out to be super glue. Once I knew what it was, I figured it would harden in the bottle within a month. I opened one and stored the other in the refrigerator. That screw-down cap...

Failed. I came to see that the slack is necessary to slide the controller out of its cubbyhole. It cost me half an inch to splice the spot that was obviously bad, with an open jacket and at least two broken conductors. Nothing in back lights, so I ordered a 90cm extension. The tinned conductors...