Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Rear Brake Pad on the Bike -- Came loose on the ride back from the Marina Del Rey Bike Path Bridge...

About half way back home, on my ride to the Marina Del Rey bike path bridge, the bike suddenly started slowing-braking.  I stopped and found that the right side brake pad on the rear brake caliper had come loose and was jamming against the wheel.  Using the compact tool set I carry in my under seat bag, I was able to reinstall the pad to fix it and get back home.

During the repair on the side of the bike path, as I tightened the pad back in position, a piece of the washer that goes between the pad and the caliper broke off and fell to the ground.  There was enough of the rest of the washer still in place to be able to tighten the pad and get rolling.  Looking at the left hand side pad, I noticed that the washer was completely missing on that side.  Hmmm...

Close up of the left hand side brake pad (on the rear).  The washer is missing... 

Close up of the right hand side brake pad (Can't see the broken off piece of the washer because it's behind the caliper arm.  The piece that broke off is about 25% of the washer). 

This is the front brake caliper for comparison.  Both pads have their washers in place. 

Shimano casts in the model number for their major components.  This is the front brake caliper and it says "BR-7800".  The groupset on this bike is Dura-Ace 7800 (This is an older model series.  I think the current generation Dura-Ace is in the 9000 series...).  I'll order replacement pads for this series...

Close up of the cast in model number.  The iPhone doesn't do well with closeups... 

 

This is the pad missing the washer completely.

Friday, April 17, 2020 -- Very clear and windy in Marina Del Rey





Improved the sagging gate to the back yard

The gate post (attached to the wall of the house) is coming away from the wall.  This causes the gate to interfere with the other half of the gate (that's stationary) and jam. 

Overview showing the gap between the gate post and the wall.  It's about 1/2" or so at the top. 

Removed three long lag bolts to remove the gate post. 

This is the top bolt hole in the wall of the house.  There's an expanding anchor but the hole is so damaged and enlarged that it doesn't grasp well.  In order to improve it, I put several pieces of hard rubber hose material around the expanding anchor and the hole to take up the space so that when the bolt is installed and the metal expanding anchor spreads, it has something to compress against.  (forgot to take a picture after filling the space...) 

This is the middle bolt hole.  I had previously installed some plastic material to take up the gap between the anchor and the wall.  This repair worked pretty well and does not need further changes. 

Same with this bottom hole as the middle hole. 

After reinstalling, the gap is down considerably.  It's tight against the wall but there's gaps because the wall and the post are not even.  Right now, it's about as tight against the wall as it can be.  I will probably have to repair the top hole again soon.  I'll either relocate the hole to a part of the wall or find a better way to fill the existing hole then reinstall a better anchor...

Pictures from Car Book -- Part 15