Super helpful genius tips. I love it. A hack I recently learned from the roadies at GCN: When you lube your chain, shift into a gear where it is cross-chained and put the lube on from the top. This opens up the little gaps in the chain and makes the lube go in much better. Shout out to Josh Portner from Silca for this one.
Doddy strikes again. That first tip was an instant "oh wow, I didn't think about that." I'm happy to see that it wasn't only recycled tips from previous videos!
Nice video, with a lot of stuff I haven’t seen before. Thanks guys. Here is my hack: To prevent my bike parts from getting stolen, I have filled my Allen screws with hot glue and cut it flush. When I have to use them I can easily peel this thing out of the screw with a little nail or something. But if someone is trying to steel you saddle and seatpost in the city (which has already happened to me) and is not able to insert his tool, he will leave and not try to figure out why it’s not working. For me this solution now workes since years.
Doddy, thanks so much for the brake pad tip! Paint and tolerances the most overlooked mysterious evil creaking noises in bicycle history, well besides unruly press-fit BB’s. I have had a sticky pad, tried most everything, paused the video went outside removed pads filed and immediately fixed a 6 week issue. Thanks again keep sending it. No thanks to cheap aftermarket pads unless you modify!
I've been troubleshooting a sticking Code RSC brake pad for several months, nothing has worked....UNTIL NOW! I tried the filing down the ends of the pads idea and it worked a treat. THANK YOU DODDY!
Hi Doddy, I made the cleat sealing with a hot glue gun, also covered the holes below the cleats to avoid water from entering, also easy to clean the mud of the cleats.
This. It's quite elastic and leaves no residue when removed. Also really useful for the gaps around the seatpost clamp to keep water and gunk out. I use it everywhere on the bike.
hey Doddy, I've got a nice hack to save some mineral oil brake fluid. when i bleed my brakes i normally need to flush the lines quite a bit from all the debris that get into it. so, to reduce my waste, I collect all the used oil into a glass jar and let it sit for a couple days. once the dirt accumulates at the bottom, i run the top 80% of the jar content through a coffee filter and save it in a clean glass jar so i can use the old fluid to flush my brake lines without wasting new fluid. the final bleed is still done with virgin fluid. but that saves a ton of brake fluid from getting wasted...
I use gorilla tape on my rims, whether tubeless or not, it’s brilliant stuff. I also used ptfe tape on my dropper because it kept unscrewing, not anymore… Fantastic vid Doddy, these should be a regular feature.
Hi Doddy, I would like to share that I use a wet vacuum cleaner to dry my chain and components after I wash my bike, it works really well to dry out fast and be able to lubricate them almost immediately.
I’ve got a few tricks- Layer up thick sheets of Gorilla Tape to make mud flap extenders. Cut to desired shape with heavy duty scissors. Last forever and won’t destroy fenders if you slow roll a curb. Use wire heat shrink in place of cable-end crimps. Allows you to pull apart components for cleaning and reuse cables, especially great in cyclocross muck. Can pick color, and looks cleaner than crimps. Can also use silicone caulk to seal holes and mesh in the top of shoes for cross racing.
hey Doddy, after retairing my last chainring due to excessive wear. i tried changing my chainline using Blackspire BB spacers and that did reduce the wear. most chainrings are set for a chainline that biases the smaller gears, but most of my pedaling happens on the larger ones. therefore moving the chainline in reduced the chain angle when on those gears and consequently the wear on the chainring. i think that was an awesome hack, and a subject that i never see on mtb videos! cheers rod
Absolute gold as ever nice one, the spray lube hack is insane !!! Will be doing that hack on sunday 😊, plus the stretchy trye sealant at the start I am buying some now I have a pesky thorn issue at the moment 🤟
2:20 I had to find this video and comment after this weekend, I entered the london to brighton this weekend and completed it but a GMBN hack saved me , my chain snapped at 15 miles into 61 and the quicklink idea from this video saved me I was 7 miles between stages , if you are reading this and do not have a spare quicklink buy one it happens!! THANKS GMBN 😊
Doddy top tip for cutting down bars or fork stanchion tube, use a plumber’s pipe cutter. I’ve used mine for several jobs and it cuts straight and leaves a clean burr free edge every time. Also a lot cheaper than the hacksaw guide.
Yes super helpful, especially with the cleat bolts. I found if you can't stop bakes pads from squealing, no matter what you do, add a tiny drop of "Permatex Disc Brake Quiet" (the kind that comes in a glue bottle), onto the back of the pads, where it comes into contact with the piston. Doesn't stop it completely but sure helps, especially in the wet.
I always use Locktite on the threads of my cleats. Not so much to keep them from loosening on me as much as keeping them from corroding in place. The hex socket head is not very deep so it is not hard to round out the head trying to remove rusted bolts. Filling the head with silicone is a great idea too. Is video and others like it are both entertaining and useful. Thanks GMBN
I've also used gorilla tape to repair myself, had a 2" diameter blister which burst and ripped open. taped it back in place with gorilla tape and it lasted a full day until I could get proper medical materials
Great job! Thanks. Already knew-of/used about half of these over my decades turning a wrench but will try the others, especially the gorilla tape and flexible super-glue....since those are kind-of new products. Regarding the spray lube, if I have a situation where what I really want is a drip and don't have it, I'll just spray some lube into the plastic top of the spray can. Squeeze it down to make a bit of a funnel shape and drip it where needed.
When you finish the roll of teflon tape keep the center and slide it over your rear axle when you take your wheel off. Loop your chain onto the teflon tape wheel for cleaning your bike. You can spin the cranks with your chain over the axle without damaging/marking it up. Makes for easier cleaning of the chain and derailleur.
This collection is just ingenious. Some I knew but the overview is brilliant. The elastic superglue will get application as soon as I get some of this stuff. Ideas which manufacturers' manuals would never recommend, (warranty void and buying original parts only etc.)
A hack I use is a 1" offcut of mtb inner tube put over the front brake side which is pulled over the brake lever when leaning your bike on something. This will stop your bike rolling away and potentially damaging it. Great tips on this post many thanks
I have several bikes of various speeds. On each bike I have removed the handlebar end plug on the drive side of the bike and inserted an appropriate quick link wrapped in a piece of kitchen paper. I've then re-fitted the handlebar plug. With this method I know that I've always got the correct quicklink available on every bike.
On the Gorilla Tape stuff, I taped an AirTag inside the Steerer Tube of my suspension fork, has been there well over a year and not even budged despite all the grime going up there from rides.
Omg Doddy, I accidentally hit the down thumb. I corrected it. I’d never thumb down any of you. You guys are my go to and I appreciate all you do. So sorry, hope I fixed it!
Wish I knew about that elastic glue before. I tried super glue around a plugged hole but didn’t stay more than a couple rides. Tip I used yesterday is when aligning calipers to rotors: it’s hard to see the tiny gap between the two when lining it up but it helps to put something high contrast behind. I put a piece of white paper on the ground under the caliper and it helps to see the gaps.
Amazing and valuable tips as usual from you, sir! A very big THANK to you! Wishing you all the best always and secure and happy rides! Greetings from Sweden! 💯👍👍👍
Instead of wax, try P-tex (skiers know). A bit harder wearing but can still be picked out. On the rubber glove hack, a rubber band also works, and you can go a bit thicker if needed. Love the hacks!
For the shoehack, neither wax nor silicone, I'd rather seal them with hot glue. PTFE tape works wonders, I was wondering if someone else ever used that. Thanks for sharing
9:44 I didn't want to buy some blue Loctite so I thought about the Teflon tape a few years ago.... I use it on the disk brake screws and the chainring bolts. Perfect.
Thanks for the tips! I immidiately tried the hack with the shock oil in the ratchet of the freehub. I dissassembled my DT Swiss 240 hub and put the shock oil (thick as butter), cause I really would like it to be quiter. But on the contrary, the hub became even louder :( So I'll probably put DT Swiss Special Grease back on.
Its important to emphasize that you shouldn't over grease your freehub drive mechanism. They won't work properly if you do. I have fixed a few over the years that kept slipping or wouldn't engage reliably and it was because they had way too much grease in them or were lubed with a grease that was too stiff.
Seen more than one silencing job that had the freewheel freewheeling in BOTH directions! Go easy on the grease, especially if you use the bike in cold temps!
I've had the rattling pads on my XT brakes. A electrical tape round the retaining pin worked a treat and didn't restrict movement of the pads back and forth.
PTFE 101: Wind it on like your winding on a nut... (so generally clockwise if the end of the bolt etc is facing you) and only 2-3 turns... (More can split the outer, or just push down the threads as there's too much to slip between the threads). You can always spot PTFE put on by a numpty. Usually displayed as a huge lump of PTFE pushed into a ring at the end of the nut.. and when unwound, you end up with lie a foot long strip when you should only have about 6x the width of the bolt max.
Gcn once featured a hack where they took the end of a brake cable housing and pulled out the speaking a bit. That makes it into a really nice tool when fishing for those internal cables on the other end. Had helped me out a lot. I'm sure a lot of these will come in handy as well
with the filing brake pads, I bought the absolute Black graphene pads for my Level TL rear brake and had some trouble getting it to fit in, until some of the paint chipped off.
I used plumbers tape for years on my old FRS suspension bushings. before seal cartridge bearings. The bushings would wear so quickly and creak or actually become slightly out of round. The tape would last for about five rides and make up the gap and keep things quiet.
Twisted brake lines can easily be fixed on Shimano brakes by swapping out BH90 brake lines for BH59 lines. You need matching needles but the olives and calipers/levers are all compatible. BH59 can be more spongy because they have more internal volume, so they're supplied on cheaper brakes from factory, but the lines are much more flexible and don't bind up or twist as easily.
I was replacing a shifter cable housing that was internally run. Not knowing if there was an internal guide, I decided to use a short piece of threaded rod, or a long fine threaded bolt with the head cut off, to join the new cable housing to the old one so that I could use the old housing to pull the new one through the frame.
