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1. eyelets: yes on my old artcycle commuter
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/artcycle/c/0000000249/
. I'm really not sure if the eyelets are for fenders or for racks. (it has 2 on each side on the rear, then 1 on each side on the front)

2. touring: just going out and exploring. minshuku or couch surfing would be nice, but i'd expect to be self sufficient with some gear shared between 2-3 friends..
I'm imagining to tour for a week or two at a time so.... I suppose I:m gonna need to carry tools, a tent(this can be shared with some mates), some food, and a change of clothes.

I just really have no idea how racks and panniers work together with each other in terms of compatibility.
I've always traveled with a backpack for 2-3 day trips (without tents).

The eyelets on the front are for fenders. The upper ones on the rear are presumably for a rack, but unless I'm missing something your bike doesn't have the normal braze-ons on the seat stays. r14-2.jpg Maybe it's supposed to be used with a rack that connects to the seatpost?

Anyhow, braze-ons aren't absolutely necessary. Clips like these m3mFMw4ESUpVaGlV6dBVOMw.jpg can support heavy loads just fine.

Have a look at Nitto's racks. They're a bit pricey, but they will last you forever and work great with or without braze-ons. http://nitto-tokyo.sakura.ne.jp/carrier-E.html

I don't have any experience with panniers, but I use Nitto racks to carry quite a lot of weight in baskets and they work great.

Here's my braze-on-less touring solution...IMG_1159.JPG Baskets and water proof stuff bags work great for quick tours. I can carry a small tent, sleeping bag, inflatable mat, a change of clothes and basic cooking supplies on this.
 
Yeah. they don"t have rear braze ons

I was thinking a rear rack with some panniers then attached to the collar with something like:
417YR3SXgzL._SY355_.jpg


I'll keep on looking around for more info.
 
Had a selfie fail during silver week - bike blew off the top of an outcrop and ended up wedged by the bars rear wheel down over a ravine about 4 metres down. Managed to get the bike and there was miraculously little damage - a few chips on the chainstay and these scratches (see picture) on the front rim (I gave them a quick sand to smooth them over a bit). My question is is do I need to fill them - if so how, or do I need to get a new wheel?

Cheersimage.jpeg
 
My question is is do I need to fill them - if so how, or do I need to get a new wheel?

CheersView attachment 12296

I've had success blending-out small areas of rim damage with a small metal file and that might work for you, it's hard to see from the pictures how deep the damage is. Your braking surface looks pretty mangled. Don't fill the damaged area, that won't help.

More than brake-block wear, you should probably consider the possibility that you could have introduced a surface defect which could induce a fatigue failure in the future, particularly because the largest area of damage is quite close to a spoke hole. Bike rims carry pretty high loads during cornering and when at high speed and that would be a poor time to have it fold-up on you.

http://poehali.net/attach/Bicycle_Wheel_-_Jobst_Brandt.pdf

I think that with the level of damage you've got, replacement would be the best option. Good news is that it's a front wheel, so it shouldn't cost too much.
 
Had a selfie fail during silver week - bike blew off the top of an outcrop and ended up wedged by the bars rear wheel down over a ravine about 4 metres down. Managed to get the bike and there was miraculously little damage - a few chips on the chainstay and these scratches (see picture) on the front rim (I gave them a quick sand to smooth them over a bit). My question is is do I need to fill them - if so how, or do I need to get a new wheel?

CheersView attachment 12296
Get a new one.
 
Bike rims carry pretty high loads during cornering and when at high speed and that would be a poor time to have it fold-up on you.

How does the speed of rotation of the wheel increase the mass of the rest of the bike and the rider?
 
I've done a very stupid thing today. I wanted to service the headset on my CX bike. Taking it apart, it seems this was long overdue with very little grease left. So I've cleaned everything, degreased the bearings which were surprisingly not of the cartridge kind, but looked like this:

headset-bearings-43od-37id.jpg

Anyway, after everything was clean, dry and regreased, I failed miserably to put it all back together. The fork is apparently not held just by a compressor ring and a bearing cover, which would be fairly simple, but has an additional two-part ring-cover thing. For the life of me I just could not get everything in proper order/direction no matter what I did. It just wouldn't fit in. Even worse, while I was fiddling with all the greasy parts, I've managed to damage the lower end bearings, with at least two balls dropping off the ring (I still have them). I am tempted to try and return them in their sockets, but should probably just buy new bearings now, correct? There is no serial number or some such to identify them though...

Perhaps I should just take it to the LBS? For such a simple task it is a real shame though.

EDIT: One LBS I just called and explained the situation, told me that bearings should be replaced. It will take about a week if they're in stock, and I should leave the bike with them. Also, I was told to expect at least 5,000 yen charge. :eek:
 
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@Winston Leg-Thigh

Might be a bit drastic to get a new wheel... I mean, by all means get one, but this honestly just looks like some mid-level scratching on the braking surface. You can file / sand this smooth and never notice it again. While the comments from @EspressoDan about potential damage to the structure are valid, I think they are an over-reaction. This looks like a cheap Shimano alloy rim (?) which are typically overbuilt (ie, have a lot of material, that has not been machined away to make it lighter). If the bike fell on its' own, without anybody on it and bounced off the front wheel, with the tyre on and fully inflated, I doubt you have buggered the wheel.

Do some tests;

1. Spin it. It is straight?
2. Check the spokes; are they all about the same tension (are any hugely loose)?
3. Check the spoke holes in the rim around the area of scratching; are there any cracks emanating from the holes, in an outward direction?
4. Run your fingers around the whole area of scratching; are there any depressions / dents in the structure.

If all these checks come back OK, then really, your rim is fine.

It's the stock Alex rim that came on the bike so it's certainly cheap. The scratches are about 2-3mm deep. Spokes are okay and the wheel is still straight. I think the scratches are from when I was unwedging the bike from the ravine - it bounced down backwards from what I can remember.
 
So, in connection with my last post, does anyone know where bearings like these may possibly be found in Japan? I'm not paying 4,000 yen shipping for a 500 yen product. I couldn't find it on amazon.jp, rakuten nor wiggle. These look similar to what I have, though I'm not sure about how to check the dimensions etc?
 
Thanks. Basically, I have (from the top) top cap, spacers, bearings cover (the upper half) and the compression ring plus the 2 other parts shown in the lower half of the pic:

1.jpg

The 2 parts can also come together like this:

4.jpg

Apart from these, there are only the 2 bearings (shown here) of which the lower is pretty damaged (more than just 2 balls missing, and it doesn't seem to sit in the right place so maybe disfigured too)

6.jpg

7.jpg
 
Thanks a bunch, really much appreciated. This was the way I tried to fit it, and the most straightforward one, but it's good to be reassured. I've checked the lower bearing again, and it is bent and missing 3-4 balls. It seems this caused the whole problem, as the fork wouldn't fit properly, so it confused me overall. I have to go to Ikebukuro on Tuesday, so I'll drop by Y's Road and see if they stock the thing as I just can't seem to find it online. But with this bagged,the reassembling will be easy. Is this thread helpful or what?! :D
 
I don't know actually. I only confirmed this now when I've taken it out. Probably while I was fiddling with it all on a workstand, with the bike "looking" up and down as I tried to keep the fork from dropping out, top tube to press it in, and to reassemble it all, plus all the grease. Also, the conical spacer won't go back on without a nudge with a gum hammer. So somewhere in there the cage got bent I suppose. I've since found it is much easier to do it on the ground, with the fork against the floor, than in mid air on the stand.
 
OK, thanks for the graphic warning. Will check this. Basically, I should be on the lookout for any balls left inside the headtube, is this what it comes down to?
 
OK, No 8 of the total of 10 meanings (Oxford) of "score" as a verb is apparently "to cut". Never knew this before. So your point is that any missing balls could have damaged the fork steerer and this could eventually compromise its structural integrity? These are balls of about 1 mm in diameter, and extremely light. It's better to be on the safe side for sure, so I will check, but I'm surprised something like that could even theoretically happen.
 
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