Tinkering

The current state of the Gryphon Mk3

 Over the Holidays I tackled the issues I had resulting from the addition of that Tumbleweed Big Dipper Bar I installed in November. (Review so far is HERE) The stem and the rear brake are both now perfect.

The Big Dipper bar added width which was just enough to cause the rear brake cable and housing to be a tiny bit too short. I could ride the bike, but turning the bars to the right just a bit too far would activate the rear brake. Not at all what you want, to say nothing of the cable housing rub on the head tube. 

So, my first thought was to get a hold of a shorter stem. That original 80mm stem was stretching me out a bit too much anyway, so I ordered up a 60mm Whiskey stem in a polished finish to keep my silver theme for the Gryphon intact. While the stem did fix the fit issue, it didn't take the brake issues all the way out of the equation. 

So, I thought about what I had to do there. The obvious answer would be to add new longer housing and and cable. However; that would mean tearing into the bar tape I had just put on, and that may or may not go well. Plus, it would be a lot of work and expense. I came up with a better, less intrusive and less expensive idea. Lengthen the housing, buy a new cable, insert it, and boom! The problem was just how  I would lengthen the housing without replacing it. Then I had some inspiration....

The new Whiskey stem shows more of the Tumbleweed branding here.

This bit was originally for a time trial bike's rear brake.

I have a "pack-rat" mentality when it comes to cast-off or extra parts that are unusual. So, when I have an unusual situation to tackle, I often sift through my stuff and see if anything strikes up an idea. This time I saw a piece that originally came off a replacement tri-bike rear brake. The original piece was retained and the new "noodle", if you will, went unused, so I kept that bit. This time the piece was perfectly suited for the task of lengthening my full-run housing a bit. 

Since the flexible steel and aluminum bit was about three inches long, I just scooched the full-run housing forward carefully through the cable-tied mounting points along the frame and added it at the end before the caliper. A new, extra-long rear brake cable was purchased at the local bike shop and when installed I had solved the problem. Now the overall length of the system allowed for full-on right hand turns and the housing was off the head tube! 

So, the final tweaking bit I did was an experiment more than anything. A reader of the blog here sent me some images of a "cut-off" light mod that he hacked from a flat piece of plastic or something similar, then he attached it to his Bookman Volume light so that it looked kind of like a visor over the lighting element. This would prevent the beam from shining up higher than the lighting unit. His images he sent of the beam pattern were encouraging enough that I thought I'd give it a try. 

I used some bit of old Iowa license plat aluminum and some tape to temporarily mount the "visor" to my Bookman light. I must say though that my test didn't really show any improvement over not having the visor thingie on and if I wanted to accomplish what I'd seen it would take a much longer piece to do that. 

So, two wins and a fail. I'll report back if I try the light hack again.

A Couple Of Hacks For The Pink MCD

An 'upcycled' plastic bit, a clip, and some cable ties.

 I had a commenter ask about my hack for a cue sheet holder and light mount which I mentioned that I had done on the pink BMC MCD bike. Well, here are the images and descriptions for replicating these bits for yourself. If you care to....(*See disclaimer in the last paragraph!)

These are not what I would call 'elegant' solutions to problems, but they are basic, they work, and almost anyone could probably make something along these lines and likely make it look better than what I have done here. I really don't care how it looks, just that it works.

Okay, so first up is the cue sheet holder, which in itself may seem like an archaic idea given the existence of GPS data for many events. That said, I like cues. They don't have batteries which can fail, screens that freeze, or glare that makes them unreadable. That's my take, anyway......

So, this is super-easy to do. I got this idea from Mike Johnson, actually, who did something similar for his Trans Iowa cue sheet holder back in the day.  I believe Mike used old water bottles, but in this instance, I used an empty container of washer solvent for car windshields to make this. First- Cut off the top tapered section and the very bottom of the container and recycle them. I used a sharp, new blade in a utility knife to do this. then, with what remains, which should be a cylinder, simply cut that lengthwise and fold it in half. I rounded the edges with a scissors to eliminate any sharp edges. I laid a heavy object, (I cannot remember what it was now) on the folded over plastic and let it sit for weeks before I picked it back up again. By that time the plastic had taken on the flattened form you see here. You can accelerate this process, as Mike Johnson did, by putting the part in an oven, or toaster oven, and set it at a very low temperature so as not to melt the plastic, and heat it. (Note- I didn't do the heat activated part, so I am not 100% sure how Mike did his. You are on your own there)

At any rate, then all I did was to punch some holes into this with an awl, and lace it using cable ties to my handle bars. A simple office paper clip, as shown in the image, holds the cues. (Note- I will get a larger pair for the event to aid against wind issues) That's it! A simple cue sheet holder made from something you otherwise might throw away. Obviously you can make this any size you need to. That's another plus to it. And yes- it doesn't look pretty. But it works. 

A carbon fiber steer tube made into a light mount.

The next bit I have done before and learned from some posters online years ago. This is a fairly common hack, but if you haven't seen it done, here's how you do it.

You'll need a chunk of steer tube. The 1 1/8th diameter type is fairly common and not too hard to get from local bike shops that do a lot of fork installations. I have always saved these bits of tubing for several reasons, including making light mounts. 

You will need a star nut, a star nut setter, and a fairly long water bottle bolt, washer, and a boss to mount the thing from. It is important that the bit of steer tube you use is at least long enough to clear your light head unit from the fork blade. I used a piece of a carbon steer tube approximately 3.5" long. Mine could have been a tic shorter, but you'll want to pay attention to that as you get your set up figured out and try to make a mount like this. 

Next, using the star nut setter, drive a star nut into one end of the steer tube bit enough that it is fully into the tube, and that's it. You don't want it down any further. Then, using the bolt and washer, thread the bolt through from the opposite end from the star nut and pass it through the center hole of the star nut. You'll likely want a long hex key to turn the bolt at this point. Thread the bolt into the boss and tighten. Make sure you greased the threads on the bolt! Then you are done! 

You can use steel, aluminum, or a carbon steer tube bit. I'd not try carbon unless you are fairly certain you know what you are doing as it can beak and splinter if you are not careful. (You are NOT supposed to do this, by the way, with carbon steer tubes!) Aluminum would probably be your best bet here. Steel works as well, but it is heavier, if that matters, and it could rust.

Happy Hacking! 

*Remember! You are doing any of this on your own and any damages, failures, or other negative issues are your responsibility. I am only showing you how I did these things and you should consider these strategies carefully and think things through for yourself. I am NOT responsible for YOUR actions. 

A Couple Of Hacks For The Pink MCD

An 'upcycled' plastic bit, a clip, and some cable ties.

 I had a commenter ask about my hack for a cue sheet holder and light mount which I mentioned that I had done on the pink BMC MCD bike. Well, here are the images and descriptions for replicating these bits for yourself. If you care to....(*See disclaimer in the last paragraph!)

These are not what I would call 'elegant' solutions to problems, but they are basic, they work, and almost anyone could probably make something along these lines and likely make it look better than what I have done here. I really don't care how it looks, just that it works.

Okay, so first up is the cue sheet holder, which in itself may seem like an archaic idea given the existence of GPS data for many events. That said, I like cues. They don't have batteries which can fail, screens that freeze, or glare that makes them unreadable. That's my take, anyway......

So, this is super-easy to do. I got this idea from Mike Johnson, actually, who did something similar for his Trans Iowa cue sheet holder back in the day.  I believe Mike used old water bottles, but in this instance, I used an empty container of washer solvent for car windshields to make this. First- Cut off the top tapered section and the very bottom of the container and recycle them. I used a sharp, new blade in a utility knife to do this. then, with what remains, which should be a cylinder, simply cut that lengthwise and fold it in half. I rounded the edges with a scissors to eliminate any sharp edges. I laid a heavy object, (I cannot remember what it was now) on the folded over plastic and let it sit for weeks before I picked it back up again. By that time the plastic had taken on the flattened form you see here. You can accelerate this process, as Mike Johnson did, by putting the part in an oven, or toaster oven, and set it at a very low temperature so as not to melt the plastic, and heat it. (Note- I didn't do the heat activated part, so I am not 100% sure how Mike did his. You are on your own there)

At any rate, then all I did was to punch some holes into this with an awl, and lace it using cable ties to my handle bars. A simple office paper clip, as shown in the image, holds the cues. (Note- I will get a larger pair for the event to aid against wind issues) That's it! A simple cue sheet holder made from something you otherwise might throw away. Obviously you can make this any size you need to. That's another plus to it. And yes- it doesn't look pretty. But it works. 

A carbon fiber steer tube made into a light mount.

The next bit I have done before and learned from some posters online years ago. This is a fairly common hack, but if you haven't seen it done, here's how you do it.

You'll need a chunk of steer tube. The 1 1/8th diameter type is fairly common and not too hard to get from local bike shops that do a lot of fork installations. I have always saved these bits of tubing for several reasons, including making light mounts. 

You will need a star nut, a star nut setter, and a fairly long water bottle bolt, washer, and a boss to mount the thing from. It is important that the bit of steer tube you use is at least long enough to clear your light head unit from the fork blade. I used a piece of a carbon steer tube approximately 3.5" long. Mine could have been a tic shorter, but you'll want to pay attention to that as you get your set up figured out and try to make a mount like this. 

Next, using the star nut setter, drive a star nut into one end of the steer tube bit enough that it is fully into the tube, and that's it. You don't want it down any further. Then, using the bolt and washer, thread the bolt through from the opposite end from the star nut and pass it through the center hole of the star nut. You'll likely want a long hex key to turn the bolt at this point. Thread the bolt into the boss and tighten. Make sure you greased the threads on the bolt! Then you are done! 

You can use steel, aluminum, or a carbon steer tube bit. I'd not try carbon unless you are fairly certain you know what you are doing as it can beak and splinter if you are not careful. (You are NOT supposed to do this, by the way, with carbon steer tubes!) Aluminum would probably be your best bet here. Steel works as well, but it is heavier, if that matters, and it could rust.

Happy Hacking! 

*Remember! You are doing any of this on your own and any damages, failures, or other negative issues are your responsibility. I am only showing you how I did these things and you should consider these strategies carefully and think things through for yourself. I am NOT responsible for YOUR actions.