Bike build - Part 3

I've got quiet a few things done on the bike build in the last couple of days.

Fitting the Bearings

Now that the paint is hard enough to handle, without risking damage, I've started reassembling the bike. The first job was to fit new pivot bearings. I'd taken detailed notes of which bearings fit where.

I've done this job on another bike and my big tip is to buy the correct bearing press tools. I have a set that covers all but one of the bearings that I have and by reversing one adapter, it does a pretty good job on that last bearing size too.

I've used the common method to make fitting easier. I put the bearing in the freezer overnight and used a heat gun to warm up the cups on the frame. All the bearings went in easily and completely square.

I heated up the frame with a hot air gun.

I checked, by looking from the reverse, that they had gone fully in to their sockets.

Headset

Finding the right size tool for any given headset is difficult and needs a bit of luck.  I do have a selection of large bearing press tools and have to use the one that is the closest fit. 

I took a photo of the headset, to remind me of the order the parts fit.

Same as the bearings, I put the headset in the freezer overnight and heated the headtube before fitting. It was troublesome but eventually the headset cups went in square.

I did the lower cup first. I checked that there was no gap anywhere between the headset and the head tube.

The upper cup was much easier.

It looks a lot neater with the headset cups in place.

Assemble the Suspension

I had taken careful notes when taking the suspension apart so it was a fairly easy job to bolt it back together. 

I greased all the bearings and the spindles.

I cleaned all the threads and applied thread lock.

Cables

I had a little bit of time left before I needed to go back to my desk, so I threaded a couple of the cables.

Getting the dropper post cable in is nearly impossible with the bottom bracket in place so I made sure I did that one first, before I forgot.

Getting the dropper post cable the correct side of the pivot through the seat tube, gives a tiny bit more depth for the dropper post to be inserted. 

A bent bit of wire helped to extract the end of the gear cable.

A last quick job, for today, was to add the hanger and associated metalwork.

It's starting to come together.

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