'68 Sting Rat

[kingfish254]

Hope you get your cranks figured out. I remember having that problem with some cottered cranks once. You definitely notice it while riding.
That purple cover is really going to make the rest of the purple parts pop profoundly.

 

[SpikeFC]

Now that is so sweet!

 

[Chad T]

Thank you gents!

Not a whole lot happening in this heat but I did manage to do a little cosmetic work on the brakes. Distressed and polished the levers..dis-polished?...

Plan on a similar treatment on the pedals. Skinned a little purple off the calipers too.

Went to pull the gripshift off the handlebar and pulled on the grip instead of the housing and it came apart and refuses to go back together. Gonna do a search but if anyone knows the magic trick let me know.

 

[OddJob]

Ooohhh. Ouch. No, not the pulled apart Grip Shift. That's not an easy one. Hard to describe, but mate the parts together (with the springs in the right spot) then you have to turn it back to the left, and when it wants to slide together, push it together then twist a little to the right to make it 'sit in'. At no time can you release your grip on it, or it will try to back off and create space again.

That prob sounds like gobbledy ..... It's hard to explain, it's really a touch thing.

 

[Chad T]

That prob sounds like gobbledy ..... It's hard to explain, it's really a touch thing.

No I totally got what you were saying since I'd been attempting it for an hour or so. Watched a vid of a guy putting this same one together and the key for me was you have to squeeze it real hard to get it to pop together once everything was lined up.

So got that back together and finished working on the drive side brake lever. Filed the inside of the clamp area to make the lever sit straighter on the apes. Also added a small extension that's held in place by the end plug.

Been worried about this brake hose install as I only purchased 8ft of braided hose (site said that's all they had so I bought it all). I knew that was cutting it close. Was hoping there was a little extra so I got it out to measure it. Looks like I def got more than 8ft Should have plenty.

 

[OddJob]

That shot of the grip, shifter, brake lever is b*tc#in! So cool. Glad you got the grip shift back together.

 

[kingfish254]

Cool to see some hydraulic brakes on a build off bike. I used to have some Magura brakes on my old Dahon Jetstream.

 

[Chad T]

That shot of the grip, shifter, brake lever is b*tc#in! So cool. Glad you got the grip shift back together.

Thank you buddy! Was worried the levers and shifter would be too bulky.

Cool to see some hydraulic brakes on a build off bike. I used to have some Magura brakes on my old Dahon Jetstream.

Like hydraulic rim brakes? That's cool.

You actually gave me some motivation to get the rear caliper mounted. Knew I was going to have to modify the adapter as it just wouldn't work with the tight 20 inch triangle + sissy bar.

After much head scratching, drilling, cutting and filing ended up with this for an adapter. It attaches to the sissy bolt and I cut down the clamp and drilled another hole in the adapter for it.

Wanted to swap the line and bleed the rear brake but I need to switch the calipers with the levers so will have to do both brakes at the same time. Can't believe it's August already!

 

[kingfish254]

Nice work! Here is the Jetstream I had. Yes, it had Magura hydraulic rim brakes. It's coolest feature was the killer fork suspension.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

This is looking awesome as expected @Chad T!

 

[OddJob]

Slick work on that caliper mounting job! I'm assuming you are saving your pro style saddle upholstery for the pie'ce de re'sistence?

 

[Chad T]

Nice work! Here is the Jetstream I had. Yes, it had Magura hydraulic rim brakes. It's coolest feature was the killer fork suspension.

That is killer! Those folders look like a lot of fun.

This is looking awesome as expected @Chad T!

Thank you Luke!

Slick work on that caliper mounting job! I'm assuming you are saving your pro style saddle upholstery for the pie'ce de re'sistence?

Was debating on whether to do the seat or the brakes first. Decided to get the brakes out of the way so yeah the seat will be one of the last things. Will also be making a custom sissy bar suspension.

 

[Chad T]

Thought I was going to be able to wrap the brake install up this weekend but ran into a couple snags. Quite the learning curve with these hydraulic brakes. Here's what happened today.

Got the lever turned so the bleed screw is pointing up.

Removed the pads and installed the bleed block/spacer.

Filled one syringe with the mineral oil and got the empty one ready to attach to the lever to catch the oil. This allows you to pump the oil back and forth to eliminate all the air.

Then I loosened the line at the caliper and noticed the first snag. Wrong ferrule. The ones I got are for Tektro brakes and the ones I need look like Shimano. They actually call them olives.

Actually screwed the hose in and it felt like it compressed so I was going to try and bleed and see if it would hold. Tried to screw the bleed fitting into the caliper and it wasn't even close to fitting...rats!

So it was back to the computer to play another round of hydraulic brake rabbit hole. Found this pic of the various bleed fittings. Seems the only compatible things with hydraulic brakes are rotors and hoses. Everything else is brand specific and I bought an off brand.

Found the fittings I need in this kit though. (Zoom)

Only places I found that kit were delivering from China with late Aug to early Oct shipping estimates.

Ordered this kit from a usa seller and should be here next week. Looks like a couple of these are the same as the Zoom fittings shown above and are aluminum instead of plastic.

Also ordered some Shimano ferrules (olives). This is also another stab in the dark as there are 2 different barbed fittings that go inside the hose to keep the ferrule from crushing it. I went with the larger one as the Tektro one seemed to slide in too easily.

Crossing my fingers that bleed kit number 3 will work...hopefully won't have to resort to a bleed kit number 4...

 

[Jake Sensi]

All these details are making my head hurt. Beautiful bike. Green with envy sub bike build contender for sure...GTB!! Peace

 

[OddJob]

Chad, hopefully this brake job isn't 'bleeding you dry'....emotionally or financially!

All of which you described is exactly why I have not acquainted myself with the whole hydro brake concept. I run them on my Santa Cruz mtb, and my Trek Farley fat bike, but that's about it. It's the one bicycle related repair that I will gladly pay somebody else to do!

With your fortitude and ingenuity, I know you will persevere! Here's hoping the new kit is the ticket!

 

[Chad T]

All these details are making my head hurt. Beautiful bike. Green with envy sub bike build contender for sure...GTB!! Peace

Thank you Jake! These details are making my head hurt too..

Decided to give myself a break from the brakes and work on the 11 speed. This immediately turned into a nightmare. Makes a double shift in the middle of the cassette going up or down. Thought it was cable drag because the guide clamps were tight but changing that didn't help.

Noticed the shifter was only making 9 clicks when hooked to the deraileur and should make 10 with the 11 speed. Took the shifter apart and put it back together and it feels different so hoping that will cure it. The shifter had come apart earlier and I had to re-assemble it.

Did accomplish something yesterday. Re-did the cable routing to the deraileur using some stops to try and reduce the drag.

Shimano stop at the bottom that will be hidden by the chain guard.

Custom stop farther up the seat stay using a spoke with purple nipple for a clamp.

Chad, hopefully this brake job isn't 'bleeding you dry'....emotionally or financially!

Got the bleed done yesterday finally. All went well with that. No pics of the process though as I was covered with mineral oil. Gloves are a must! Need to get the calipers mounted back on the bike and should have a full report on that later...

 

[OddJob]

Dig the twisted spoke cable stop. I know you patented that on a previous build. Hopefully the brake lines are the only thing 'bleeding' before the end of your build!

I'm assuming you have the derailleur matched with the shifter, as far as compatibility goes. That can be a cause of miss shifts in the middle of the cassette.

 

[Chad T]

I'm assuming you have the derailleur matched with the shifter, as far as compatibility goes. That can be a cause of miss shifts in the middle of the cassette.

Well I thought I did but turns out that's what's happening. Had done a 10 speed sram mtb shifter with road deraileur but the 11 speed mountain bike stuff is a longer pull than the 11 speed road derailleurs/shifters.... x-actuation vs exact actuation.

So looks like the path of least resistance is going to be switching to an 11-speed trigger shifter that works the the road derailleur's "Exact Actuation"

Got this one on the way.

Really gonna have to scramble to make the deadline with this..

 

[OddJob]

That Apex shifter should work. Wow, you really have hit the obstacles in this one. Hopefully you have been putting together another stellar Chad T seat recover job while these mechanical snafus have slowed your progress elsewhere!

Here's some inspiration and spiritual boost while you wait for things to 'shift' your way again...

 

[kingfish254]

Love the twisted blister cable clamp