Brakes

and chain oilers

The new brake lines arrived yesterday from Wezmoto and as I had a little spare time between fixing the washer pump on my car and tidying up in the garage, I thought I'd refit the callipers and put the new brake lines on.

After ordering them, I'd read a few bad reviews of Wezmoto and no good ones, so was begining to worry a little. There seemed to be two common issues,

1. Wezmoto sent the wrong brake lines and were not very helpful when trying to sort it out
2. they're cheap, therefore must be crap.

I would point out that the majority of bad reviews and comments were from across the pond on bike forums, not that I'm saying our US cousins are more picky than us Brits, but when you have a bad experience with a company, many customers will vent on-line. Whereas a customer who has a good experience rarely leaves a review unless prompted to.

I needn't have worried. the brake lines seem of decent quality, came with all the necessary banjo bolts and copper washers and fit on the Trophy fine. I've yet to bleed the brakes as I want to get the wheels refurbished and need some new brake pads first, but initial impression is they're good kit.

Chain oiler

I also ordered a few extra bits, like a 12v valve solenoid, a couple of 1/8" pipe connectors, some aquarists air line and a small plastic tap, also used by aquarists. I'm going to have a go at making an automatic chain oiler.

I've seen a few electric and gravity fed systems, Scottoiler, TUToRo, Cobra to name a few and I had a Scottoiler on my Blackbird which I think, did a great job of prolonging the life of the chain. But, they're all £80+. The exception to the price is 'Loobman Chain Loober', which is gravity fed and you push a button to oil your chain, as long as you remember to do so. They're around £20 +P&P and at the time of writing they're doing a buy three, get one free, deal. Why you would want four is anyone's guess, unless you have four bikes or three mates willing to go in with you.

I figure I can make an electronic one that will close the valve when the engine is stopped, with a flow regulator for less than £20. No photo's yet but once I've got all the bits, I'll see what I can make.