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I am soaking a chain in some oil now. Does the heat really make a difference?

IMO, the heat assists in getting all the grime off. I am riding a chain now that I boiled over a year ago, haven't lubed it, and it's still spotless and rust free.
 
I've heard trans fluid was better than oil for restoring old chains... I have no experience in the matter.
With the detergents in trans fluid I would agree, but I do oil changes more than I do tranny flushes. I heard trans oil was especially great to clean aluminium.
 
Lots of truth there. there is a guy on this forum trying to sell a pair of cracked white walls for $100. ..... He's nuts. Keep eyes open for curb bikes and metal recycling dumpsters. I have an insane amount of luck in that department. Just took a 70s ish schwinn breeze out of dumpster yesterday and passed on 7 kids bikes that were in there.
I would also say complete bikes are a great source of cheap parts. I bought 2 20" girls bikes this spring for $5 each at St Vinnies and Goodwill.
So far used the 4 brake pads, 2 cables 1 chain and the 32 t sprocket. and there are tons of other good parts left. :dance2:
 
Best bit of advice I ever got was shut your mouth and open your ears. 2nd best was K.I.S.S.(keep it simple stupid). Probably won't help much but who knows.


K.I.S.S. is especially good advice!

Don't over think things, as a friend of mine said in a similar vein:

"When you hear hoofbeats, think 'horses', not 'zebras'."
 
With the detergents in trans fluid I would agree, but I do oil changes more than I do tranny flushes. I heard trans oil was especially great to clean aluminium.
I soak stuff in diesel, don't know if it's better than the above, but it does a good job and it's easy to get
 
Crescent wrenches suck at getting tight fasteners off, but I've been using the rounded back end of the handles of them for tire irons since I was a kid.
 
Although you may think it looks cool, don't use a old beer can opener as a brake torque strap! (too brittle!)
2015-05-30%2003_zpsdvb3laba.jpg

:eek:
 
Pretty ironic that the bottle opener that failed as a brake strap says "A Case of Good Judgement".:rofl:
I know, almost too cool, till it broke. Made a new strap out of mild steel, Lucky it failed on my 1st test ride.
 
Make a cheap brake strap out of a peice of chain wrapped around the frame and run a bolt through the links
One of my favorites from these forums. I liked it so much I stole the idea and used it on my first rat build...

IMG_0459.jpg
 
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