“Dabbing” the foot after an aborted wheelie.
Sting-Gray
- Thread starter Ulu
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Back to 20’s today.
Pedal clearance is adequate with the short arms. I had to cut down the kickstand. It rides OK, but I wish it had some softer brake pads.
Pedal clearance is adequate with the short arms. I had to cut down the kickstand. It rides OK, but I wish it had some softer brake pads.
This is just something so the granddaughters can ride to the park with my wife when they show up once in a blue moon.
I want it to be easy for them to control.
I mentioned in another thread that this bike has a speed wobble. That’s not exactly true.
The headset on this is atrocious and it’s gotta change but because of the raked tree there is a lot of jacking as you turn.
But it relieves quickly as the bike leans. Then it reverses too far.
It’s not quite a tank slapper oscillation, but just peddling the bike causes it to be unstable, unless you are very gentle.
That’s OK because massive changes were already in order.
I want it to be easy for them to control.
I mentioned in another thread that this bike has a speed wobble. That’s not exactly true.
The headset on this is atrocious and it’s gotta change but because of the raked tree there is a lot of jacking as you turn.
But it relieves quickly as the bike leans. Then it reverses too far.
It’s not quite a tank slapper oscillation, but just peddling the bike causes it to be unstable, unless you are very gentle.
That’s OK because massive changes were already in order.
I kinda like the giant front wheel. It's so odd that it's cool.
But the bike looks much cleaner with the 20 back on there
But the bike looks much cleaner with the 20 back on there
Thanks Kingfish.
I may pick up a 24" bike today just to play with more wheels.
I may pick up a 24" bike today just to play with more wheels.
Well no 24 inch bike yet. I found a few on sale but none of them were quite what I needed at the price I wanted to pay.
I still have the 26 inch wheel and I’m just gonna put that back on the front for now. It is nice and shiny with the quick release.
The bike definitely rode better with the 26”.
I realized that it would not be possible to reverse the forks with that much rake on them, even if I move the spacer to the bottom of the steering tube from the top. They would be banging the frame way too soon, and the bike would have a very limited turning circle.
I still have the 26 inch wheel and I’m just gonna put that back on the front for now. It is nice and shiny with the quick release.
The bike definitely rode better with the 26”.
I realized that it would not be possible to reverse the forks with that much rake on them, even if I move the spacer to the bottom of the steering tube from the top. They would be banging the frame way too soon, and the bike would have a very limited turning circle.
Way past midnight bike customization in progress. I’m not that dedicated. I just had a headache and I couldn’t sleep so I got up to work on the bike.
First stripped down the forks.
I decided to convert this triple tree I was using to a threadless, and so I cut it off short, and tapped in the starnut.
This allowed me to get rid of the long spacer I was using to compensate for the short head stock.
Fully assembled in back in the garage somewhere around 2:45 AM
You can see in these views that it makes the forks look much longer. Also you can see all the rust on the underside.
The top side much shinier.
Shortening the tree also increased the fork rake. I left the 20 inch wheel on to see how it would ride now.
First stripped down the forks.
I decided to convert this triple tree I was using to a threadless, and so I cut it off short, and tapped in the starnut.
This allowed me to get rid of the long spacer I was using to compensate for the short head stock.
Fully assembled in back in the garage somewhere around 2:45 AM
You can see in these views that it makes the forks look much longer. Also you can see all the rust on the underside.
The top side much shinier.
Shortening the tree also increased the fork rake. I left the 20 inch wheel on to see how it would ride now.
Here is where I had the big spacer. This was about 1.5”
This is still wobbly. I only rode it around a minute, and I didn’t want more. I put the 26” front back on. I will test ride again when it cools off tonight.
I don’t expect much improvement, but we will see.
I hate the plastic brake lever, and I carved up another alloy Shimano combo lever to remove the shifter part. I’ll have to buff it up some more before I put it on and take pix.
I don’t expect much improvement, but we will see.
I hate the plastic brake lever, and I carved up another alloy Shimano combo lever to remove the shifter part. I’ll have to buff it up some more before I put it on and take pix.
Carving up the Shimano combo lever.
I used a rod saw to cut around the curve. This is some kind of high-strength steel rod covered with carbide crystals. My dad bought this blade about 50 years ago and it’s still not worn out.
I’m dressing off the sawmarks with a rat tail file. I already ran it across the grinding wheel first. You can see how rough the rod saw leaves the other part.
I used a rod saw to cut around the curve. This is some kind of high-strength steel rod covered with carbide crystals. My dad bought this blade about 50 years ago and it’s still not worn out.
I’m dressing off the sawmarks with a rat tail file. I already ran it across the grinding wheel first. You can see how rough the rod saw leaves the other part.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
I need to borrow that saw. I tried the exact same thing with a regular hacksaw blade, results less than satisfactory.
I did the first one with a hacksaw, as much as possible. Then I drilled a series of small holes with the electric drill around the curve.
I snapped it off and finished it with a grinder and files.
But for this one I was trying to save the shifter part as well and separate the two.
The idea is to put a friction clutch on this & conceal the raw housing inside of something attractive.
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Seems likely, I'll put it on the list
I’d be happy to loan you my saw, but it’s an awful long ride down from the Great Frozen Northlands.
I hope they don’t consider this a burglar tool or something up there. I don’t know what the laws are.
I spent a long time filing and sanding on that lever trying to get it nice and smoothly sculpted without any obvious porosity showing.
And there was porosity. Definite porosity in the heaviest part of that casting.
There was still a little spot of it but I just gave up, because the metal was getting thin.
I started buffing it, and then Deus ex Machina (the hand of God) came down on my machine.
I lost a shear key when the pulley shot off the motor, and stopped my buffing for the day…
Here’s a collection of hard drive motors from which I will scavenge bearings for my shifter.
And there was porosity. Definite porosity in the heaviest part of that casting.
There was still a little spot of it but I just gave up, because the metal was getting thin.
I started buffing it, and then Deus ex Machina (the hand of God) came down on my machine.
I lost a shear key when the pulley shot off the motor, and stopped my buffing for the day…
Here’s a collection of hard drive motors from which I will scavenge bearings for my shifter.
Never used one of those rod saw blades before. I'll have to check them out.
You can cut a glass bottle with them.
They make another style that is not carbide encrusted, but it’s just like a hardened steel file. They’re made to cut metal, but we used them to cut the cake at Pepperidge farms.
The rod saw blades cut this continuous sheet of cake into little rectangles as it came down the line from the oven and the fillers.
We put those blades in drill chucks and spun them with pneumatic motors, and it made beautiful continuous cuts on the cake.
Because of the spiral design they took the cake from the kerf down out of the production line and they didn’t gum up the way a regular knife gums up as you cut a cake with it.
I cut down the other Shimano combination lever from the fake Schwinn, for this project, and I spent some time sanding off the silver paint and polishing it up.
Here it is compared to the one that’s already installed on the Mongoose. It’s still pretty rough and I didn’t remove the silver paint
These could both use some more buffing but this is definitely rat quality.
I have some ideas for a shifter that are not too elaborate. They hinge on whether I can TIG that little star wheel to a chainsaw wrench.
Here it is compared to the one that’s already installed on the Mongoose. It’s still pretty rough and I didn’t remove the silver paint
These could both use some more buffing but this is definitely rat quality.
I have some ideas for a shifter that are not too elaborate. They hinge on whether I can TIG that little star wheel to a chainsaw wrench.
