Cartridge BB, SR Suntour crank... seemed a bit loose on the NDS.. ok., pull the crankset, pull the BB.....wait.. there's a lockring on the NDS cup... hmmm.. grab hook spanner, off comes the ring.. kinda loose though....
Removed the NDS cup... 8 1/4" balls ooze out of some nasty looking grease...the rest of the cartridge BB appears dirty, but normal.
the pressed in seal was acting as a second bearing race...
any truly odd "assemblies" you'd like to share?
two brake cables tied together to make a longer one?
a nail pounded into a QR axle, with a washer on it?
an aluminum clamp as the upper bearing race on a suspension fork?
elec. tape, duct tape and a length of thread-all holding suspension parts together?
around here, these things are known as "Logger Fixes"



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Got a Prosperity 3 speed IGH belt driven bike in the other day and the belt was slipping. $80 for a belt, no way.

Pulled the belt drive cog off the rear wheel and replaced it with a used coaster break type cog. Changed the front 1-piece crank to a used chain sprocket and added a new chain. Bike was back in business for under $10

When one of the spring anchor points on my front derailleur snapped off, I figured out how to stretch and tie off a cut-up inner tube to replace the spring. It worked, if anything, more smoothly than the original configuration. Rode the bike that way for a month or so until I sourced a replacement.

Episodes of the GCN Show and the GMBN Show on YouTube include a segment called "Hack or Bodge?," featuring examples of creative and/or wacky fixes.

Could be a cheap bushing on the (lower load side) non-drive side.

If it has a cup and ball bearings on the NDS, then the seal was not acting as a second bearing race, the cup was too loose, and thus too much radial force was acting on the seal, stretching it, letting in water and dirt, etc. Clean everything, carefully inspect all balls, if any spalling or scoring, replace all balls, repack with grease, adjust cup until spindle alone when spun in fingers, has no slack (any slack is too loose), is not "notchy" (too tight), but when spun, is smooth, but you feel the balls engaged, that is the proper preload, and under radial load, about half the balls each side will take the load, instead of two or three. That will provide best durability.

When apart, also inspect spindle races for spalling; If any spalling and you don't have easy replacement, mark on the end of the spindle, the orientation of the spall, and when you assemble the crank to the spindle, orient the spall UP when the pedal is forward so will be under load, and pushing the spindle DOWN, this will be smoothest until the spindle can be replaced.

Oh, and I got one of my bikes, used but like new, one crank arm was loose, and this was a bike the seller had purchased new through a dealer; There was a plastic spacer washer there, and two of them, preventing the crank arm from properly seating on the tapers. I removed one washer and put the crank back on, seated perfect. Not sure what the function of even the one washer was for, but left it in place.

I call these “gun deck repairs” A term I learned in the Navy (from the days of wooden ships. Any repair necessary, made in the heat of battle to keep your gun/cannon firing). I have this spoke…which is actually still installed on the bike after many years. I always said I was going to replace it with a proper spoke. But, it’s working just fine. I did this one by hand. But apparently there are devices that will bend a spoke like this for those that don’t have the traditional spoke head. Also, unfortunately I can’t locate the photo right now. But a few years ago I repaired a friend’s road bike front derailleur with a short piece of broken drill bit. A ‘nub’ of the molded aluminum had broken off. It was a stopper to keep part of the derailleur from adjusting too much. I drilled two small holes in it and jammed the drill bit in. I’m told it’s still holding and working fine. — Dan

There's a trick where you bend a Z double kink in the "head" end of a headless spoke so you can replace a driveside spoke without removing the freewheel/cassette.

it was a "CARTRIDGE BB"... and someone used a loose ball cup on the NDS, With 1/4" balls inserted/adjusted against the outer seal of the CARTRIDGE BB.... and the whole thing got tossed in the recycle bucket, since all of the parts, except the lockring, were beyond reuse.
there was a copious amount of cat hair in the grease too.

i have Z-bend crimp Pliers... they were needed for a RC plane build..
then i went to work as a small engine repairman... i found those z-benders and brought them to work.

I probably include a bit of cat hair in most things I do, but it's the long fine people hair that gets to me - wrapped around the roller on the vacuum cleaner, tickling my face when I can't figure out what it's hanging off, creating monsters in the drains ...

We had a person with no tires just zip ties covering whatever rubber was left. We ended up giving him some old tires and brake pads to help him get back out there a little more safely. Dude was clearly struggling quite hard but he was super grateful and now at least has tires instead of 100 zip ties.

i've seen the really big zipties used as "tire chains" on cars, for ice-driving... they work surprisingly well!

i've never built a race engine or bike without dog hair in it... i think it must be good luck or something.

When I first heard of spokes like that, that's what I immediately thought, and have wanted pliers to do that ever since. I suppose I can make up some spokes with needlenose pliers, maybe. I should try doing that. Will definitely do, some way or another, if I tour again. However, ever since I did a full retrue, bringing all tensions to zero and then back up carefully, with very equal tensions, I have yet to break a spoke. So after bearing repack and adjustment, I do that on every bike I buy.

On my first tour a muddy road clogged my front fender. Some digging then I got mad and kicked the fender. It broke and was tied with a shoelace the next 2 months.
I've done dozens of kludges for 50 years. Made stuff out of metal mart and road kill metal.
My 1973 Raleigh had hollow levers, so once I just threaded thru the cable to use the cutoff different end. Frayed way sooner doing this. LOL
That bike had a rusty tin paint can on my top tube to hold the spare tube and pryers.
One light mount was a wooden ladder brace later nickel plated, the other was a 18" dishwasher door hinge, that I took all apart when I was doing renos.
My ear muffs was from a 1970s spring, a coat hanger, the furry cover was off a new one with useless plastic hoop, nail head rivets and a old wool sock liner.
Nail rivets in some of my brake levers.
My tour bike tool chest was a thermos covered in CF, with the hanger that was a handle picked out of a pile of bar-b-que that fell off a moving truck.
The rack mount on my CCM was 1/4" plate alu found on a highway.
My front rim brakes on 3 bikes would never stay straight, so I hooked them with copper wire and mattress springs off old seats. LOL
Mirror mounts used to be levers.
SJS sent me a wrong narrow spring rail set 5 years ago for my Brooks Flyer, so I spent weeks cutting, filing and drilling 1 x 1/2" alu bars and two 8 mm bolts to take the place of the springs. Used it several months on my Simcoe bike.
My Rohloff shifter knob for 10 years has a rubber hat cover found in dad's garage.
DIY wrap around kick stand that's a big nuisance to use.
My down tube bottle holders were from friction shifter holders. Finally gone now.
My dad had tires inside tires and tubes with 15 patches. It went flat and I cut it up. LOL.
Plus all the CF stuff on all 3 bikes.
My CCM now has an awesome DIY metal bracket to hold my shift cable stop to my indicator chain.

my last five baseball type hats have been found along one 10 mile stretch of highway.
my garage has almost a complete truck mudflap floor... two more should finish it...
the best bikes in my boneyard are covered with a rollup awning that ripped loose from some passing motorhome once... i put a large trampoline mat over the top of the awning to hold it down.. it was a curb alert find, and the d-rings make it extra-heavy.
my favorite adj. wrench, a 15" Diamond brand, was found in the middle of that same stretch of highway that provides my hats...
i spotted ANOTHER hat while driving home today... if it's still there on Wednesday, it's MINE.. i'll give the owner a day or two to retrieve it.
i'm salvaging old Oregonian Newspaper tubes to build a handlebar storage rack.
etc.

Once upon a time I was rehabbing a junker bike to go hiking with: I'd often go on a point-to-point hike, biking back to my car after stashing a beater in the woods before hand. The frame was set up for center pull cantilever brakes with a guide that attached onto the seat bolt clamp. When I got to setting the rear brakes I realized I didn't have the cable stop to insert into the guide (can't remember if I lost it or if it never had it when I got the bike) - and of course none of the others I had in the bits bin fit either. I ended up cutting out the Schrader valve from an old inner tube, removed the core, and stuffed it into the guide. For what it was it worked pretty good - at least for my purposes. I wouldn't advocate for this as a real solution, though

I have a picture of it somewhere but since I hacked this years ago it would probably take me years to now find the pic!

I take the 84 to work and I see baseball hats on the shoulder almost everyday(: