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Main \\ Outdoor Activities \\ Mountains \\ Biking \\
  A few assorted 'Heath Robinson' tips & tricks

Stopping scratches & stone chips


Expensive transparent protection stickers catch dirt around the edges, and unless you fit them direct to a new frame, you can still see the paint damage through them! Stones can chip right through insulation tape and it falls off at the merest hint of WD40. The best anti-stone chip protection is black 'cloth' tape. L2 for a big roll, it stays stuck and is tough. For the drive side chainstay remember than chain slap occurs underneath, not just on top of the stay. While neoprene protectors are superb, basic road bike handlebar tape is cheaper and works just as well. I always prefer that 'DIY' look to the 'loads of dosh' look!


Changing brake pads a pain?


While changing disc brake pads might appear straightforward, it still requires the use of one or even two pairs of pliers. In the middle of nowhere pliers are easier to come by than specialist bike tools, but a 'no-tools' fix would be even better. Simple - replace your split pins with hair pins! No joke - mine have not shown any tendency to fall out or break over many months, and I can swap pads in seconds without any tools. But just to be on the safe side I carry a spare!


DIY saddle 'adjustments'


Have you seen those fancy saddles with cut outs or gel inserts? If you have a favourite saddle and want to try improving its comfort a little you can perform DIY saddle surgery. Carefully cut away part of the shell from underneath the saddle, until the foam is just exposed from beneath. Then superglue a piece of inner tube over the hole to prevent water ingress. The end result - a normal looking saddle with a little extra sag in the most important places. If you are unsure of where to cut the holes, simply copy from another 'cut-away' or 'gel insert' saddle. A Dremel is superb for performing the surgery, but go slowly otherwise you'll be melting rather than cutting the plastic.


Reflectors


Those wonderful people at Halfords sell self-adhesive reflector tape. Weighs nothing, available in silver, red or yellow. So you can ditch those nasty plastic reflectors and replace then with something much more effective, durable and discrete. This tape used to be sold by a bike mail order company as 'self adhesive wheel rim reflectors' for L10 for 10 small squares. A whole roll only costs L3!


Slipping saddle clamp or bar ends


If you've ever suffered from a slipping seat clamp (the saddle angle adjusts at every large bump), or bar ends that won't stay still, you'll know the catch 22 associated with this problem. The only cure seems to be to keep tightening the bolt. However, often the end result is snapped bolts, stripped threads, rounded Allen keys or crushed aluminium rather than cured slippage. My solution is sandpaper! Cut out a small piece of waterproof sandpaper (wet-or-dry or emery) and fit it between the two slipping surfaces before tightening. The beauty of this solution is the different grades of paper give different thicknesses to fill different sized gaps.


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