Rik
10-06-2006, 03:39 PM
It seems I can never be too busy, and even though I keep myself occupied by spending a ridiculous amount of time procrastinating on Farkin I still have an itch to do productive/constructive things when I can.
Modifying bike bits (and everything else) is something that keeps me creative and thinking, I'll always look at something and wonder how it could be improved... it makes for interesting work sometimes!
I decided to create this thread to document some of the mods I've already done, as well as throw around ideas for future projects. The bigger jobs will deserve their own threads, but small stuff will stay here.
Completed projects:
Super T modding (pics below) (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670335#post670335): The 01/02 Marzocchi forks are made with a 3 piece lower, the legs slide in to the brace and the brake bosses hold it all together. Since I was only ever going to use disc brakes, I felt the need to grind off the brake bosses. Since this'd be silly to do on its own, loctite 680 (for sleeve fits) was used to bond the legs in place. The area around the bosses was bogged up, and the fork resprayed. At the same time I polished up the crowns as well, so it's gone from being a beaten shitty looking thing to something that's not too bad now.
Z1 brake mount (pics below) (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670338#post670338): The original mount on my Z1 was cracked when I bought it, and I didn't like the chances of a replacement part surviving as it's not the best design... so I machined a new one out of stainless steel, it's tough as, and should last a lifetime.
Shimano "DXT" singlespeed hub: Pics for this are long gone, and unfortunately I can't seem to find the relevant thread either. Shimano use the same spline mount for most of their freewheels, so a DX BMX singlespeed freewheel was taken and mounted in an XT hub. The whole lot was respaced to suit, and a boltup axle installed at the same time. It gave me a pretty cool singlespeed hub, when respaced it was dishless too. The DX freewheel is "clickier" and had a solid engagement (albeit still only 16 points). The only disadvantage was changing the disc rotors spacing relative to frame, but that could be overcome easily enough and I was running V's so it didn't matter. I'll probably do this again soon when I build up the boltup front hub on to velocity rims as mentioned below. Now to find a cheap XT/LX hub...
Double singlespeed: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=35437)A borrowed idea, running two drivetrains in parallel and have the chain swapped between them for different ratios. As long as the difference between chainring and sprocket is the same on both, it isn't too much drama to do... that said, I came accross a few niggling issues that only modding could fix.
Sherman U-turn: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=39520)Installing the U-turn system from a RS Psylo in a Sherman, giving 3-5" of adjustable travel. The travel adjust combined with the position sensitivity of SPV (which makes the fork stiffer as I wind down the travel) makes for a very versatile fork. This was a very successful idea, now if only I had a bike to run the fork on...
Woodman D-ropout: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=40119)The stock dropout on the D frame is terrible, who knows what the designers were thinking (if at all!) when they created it. Such a nice bike spoilt by such a badly made part. I made the dropout alot bigger to stop it rotating in the frame, made the tolerances tighter to help keep it in place snugly, and moved the brake mount around a bit to allow the caliper to clear the rotor for easier wheel removal. Another successful project, but it dragged on for a long time due to trial-and-error modifying of the design many times over.
Work in progress:
"Heavy metal #2", D8 modding: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=31033)Well... over a year on, I'm getting through it unfortunately slowly :o I plan on machining new linkages and having the rear end modified a bit to suit, all to fit an Avalanche shock in the frame. Whilst it's a bit of a futile task, I've taken it on to use it as a tool of learning more than anything else. The end project I've planned should be pretty damn nice, but it's what I learn along the way that'll be the most valuable part of the experience.
Fork mod for a mate: I don't want to go saying anything when it's his job, but I'm machining a few parts for another forum member to acheive a result that's along the lines of something I'd come up with myself.
QR to Boltup front hub axle (pics below): (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670341#post670341) I want to install a really nice sealed bearing front hub on my commuter, but want a boltup axle so I can leave it locked up without worrying about missing wheels. Surely just getting an allen key skewer is easy enough? Yahuh, but it's not as fun as machining a new axle! I'll probably use M10 bolts machined down slighly for the 9mm dropouts, to make for a very stiff front end.
XTR crank spider (pics below): (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670345#post670345) Another project for a friend. A nice shiny XTR crankset is in need of a 4/104 spider. Unfortunately the necessary spider is hard to come by, but I've pulled a similar spider/ring off my brothers old LX cranks. The LX spider will need a bit of machining done to fit the XTR arm, and then I'll also try and machine the outside of the arms to allow for a proper 3 ring setup.
Distraction from riding project: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=56294) I've a developing interest in music production, and am slowly building a decent hardware setup to suit. Of course, my own touches need to be applied to it, so custom racks are being made. On top of that, a drum trigger padset will be made too, for hands-on programming of beats. Once I get on top of making my own trigger pads, I'll be looking at making a "proper" e-drum kit for my younger brother so he can practise his death metal drumming without imposing on the rest of the neighbourhood.
Planned projects:
Super Boxxer: Take my SuperT internals and stick them in a Boxxer. It won't acheive much, really, but the Boxxer chassis is a fair bit better than the 30mm stanchions and 3 piece qr20 lower of the 02 Marzocchis. This'll be a very easily doable project, as apparently the Marzocchi topcaps are a straight swap in to the Boxxer stanchions. Not only that, Marz use standard M10 threads on the bottom of their damper carts, so only a couple of small parts will need to be made to fit it all in a Boxxer.
OnePointFiver reducer cups: Ahh, not your ordinary cups, discussion with a friend brewed the idea of making cups that'll allow head angle adjustment. It's a pretty in-depth idea that I've almost sorted out, but making a jig to suit will be a nightmare. The idea's there, it probably won't be worked on for at least 6 months, or probably a year at my current rate of progress :eek: Nevertheless, when it's done I'll be a very happy modder. I'll post more details on the idea when I get closer to starting on it.
Hayes levers: I want shorter levers for my Hayes, but why spend money when I can waste time hacking at metal instead? Who knows how worthwhile the idea will be, but if I can shape my own short levers without too much hassle, I'll probably do it.
This thread will evolve with time as I come up with more ideas and complete other projects. I'm not too keen on taking up other peoples work for the sake of doing it for them (close friends excluded), but if ideas are put forward and I see the necessity/relevance for me to tackle it, who knows what'll happen.
Mod on :cool:
Modifying bike bits (and everything else) is something that keeps me creative and thinking, I'll always look at something and wonder how it could be improved... it makes for interesting work sometimes!
I decided to create this thread to document some of the mods I've already done, as well as throw around ideas for future projects. The bigger jobs will deserve their own threads, but small stuff will stay here.
Completed projects:
Super T modding (pics below) (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670335#post670335): The 01/02 Marzocchi forks are made with a 3 piece lower, the legs slide in to the brace and the brake bosses hold it all together. Since I was only ever going to use disc brakes, I felt the need to grind off the brake bosses. Since this'd be silly to do on its own, loctite 680 (for sleeve fits) was used to bond the legs in place. The area around the bosses was bogged up, and the fork resprayed. At the same time I polished up the crowns as well, so it's gone from being a beaten shitty looking thing to something that's not too bad now.
Z1 brake mount (pics below) (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670338#post670338): The original mount on my Z1 was cracked when I bought it, and I didn't like the chances of a replacement part surviving as it's not the best design... so I machined a new one out of stainless steel, it's tough as, and should last a lifetime.
Shimano "DXT" singlespeed hub: Pics for this are long gone, and unfortunately I can't seem to find the relevant thread either. Shimano use the same spline mount for most of their freewheels, so a DX BMX singlespeed freewheel was taken and mounted in an XT hub. The whole lot was respaced to suit, and a boltup axle installed at the same time. It gave me a pretty cool singlespeed hub, when respaced it was dishless too. The DX freewheel is "clickier" and had a solid engagement (albeit still only 16 points). The only disadvantage was changing the disc rotors spacing relative to frame, but that could be overcome easily enough and I was running V's so it didn't matter. I'll probably do this again soon when I build up the boltup front hub on to velocity rims as mentioned below. Now to find a cheap XT/LX hub...
Double singlespeed: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=35437)A borrowed idea, running two drivetrains in parallel and have the chain swapped between them for different ratios. As long as the difference between chainring and sprocket is the same on both, it isn't too much drama to do... that said, I came accross a few niggling issues that only modding could fix.
Sherman U-turn: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=39520)Installing the U-turn system from a RS Psylo in a Sherman, giving 3-5" of adjustable travel. The travel adjust combined with the position sensitivity of SPV (which makes the fork stiffer as I wind down the travel) makes for a very versatile fork. This was a very successful idea, now if only I had a bike to run the fork on...
Woodman D-ropout: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=40119)The stock dropout on the D frame is terrible, who knows what the designers were thinking (if at all!) when they created it. Such a nice bike spoilt by such a badly made part. I made the dropout alot bigger to stop it rotating in the frame, made the tolerances tighter to help keep it in place snugly, and moved the brake mount around a bit to allow the caliper to clear the rotor for easier wheel removal. Another successful project, but it dragged on for a long time due to trial-and-error modifying of the design many times over.
Work in progress:
"Heavy metal #2", D8 modding: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=31033)Well... over a year on, I'm getting through it unfortunately slowly :o I plan on machining new linkages and having the rear end modified a bit to suit, all to fit an Avalanche shock in the frame. Whilst it's a bit of a futile task, I've taken it on to use it as a tool of learning more than anything else. The end project I've planned should be pretty damn nice, but it's what I learn along the way that'll be the most valuable part of the experience.
Fork mod for a mate: I don't want to go saying anything when it's his job, but I'm machining a few parts for another forum member to acheive a result that's along the lines of something I'd come up with myself.
QR to Boltup front hub axle (pics below): (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670341#post670341) I want to install a really nice sealed bearing front hub on my commuter, but want a boltup axle so I can leave it locked up without worrying about missing wheels. Surely just getting an allen key skewer is easy enough? Yahuh, but it's not as fun as machining a new axle! I'll probably use M10 bolts machined down slighly for the 9mm dropouts, to make for a very stiff front end.
XTR crank spider (pics below): (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?p=670345#post670345) Another project for a friend. A nice shiny XTR crankset is in need of a 4/104 spider. Unfortunately the necessary spider is hard to come by, but I've pulled a similar spider/ring off my brothers old LX cranks. The LX spider will need a bit of machining done to fit the XTR arm, and then I'll also try and machine the outside of the arms to allow for a proper 3 ring setup.
Distraction from riding project: (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=56294) I've a developing interest in music production, and am slowly building a decent hardware setup to suit. Of course, my own touches need to be applied to it, so custom racks are being made. On top of that, a drum trigger padset will be made too, for hands-on programming of beats. Once I get on top of making my own trigger pads, I'll be looking at making a "proper" e-drum kit for my younger brother so he can practise his death metal drumming without imposing on the rest of the neighbourhood.
Planned projects:
Super Boxxer: Take my SuperT internals and stick them in a Boxxer. It won't acheive much, really, but the Boxxer chassis is a fair bit better than the 30mm stanchions and 3 piece qr20 lower of the 02 Marzocchis. This'll be a very easily doable project, as apparently the Marzocchi topcaps are a straight swap in to the Boxxer stanchions. Not only that, Marz use standard M10 threads on the bottom of their damper carts, so only a couple of small parts will need to be made to fit it all in a Boxxer.
OnePointFiver reducer cups: Ahh, not your ordinary cups, discussion with a friend brewed the idea of making cups that'll allow head angle adjustment. It's a pretty in-depth idea that I've almost sorted out, but making a jig to suit will be a nightmare. The idea's there, it probably won't be worked on for at least 6 months, or probably a year at my current rate of progress :eek: Nevertheless, when it's done I'll be a very happy modder. I'll post more details on the idea when I get closer to starting on it.
Hayes levers: I want shorter levers for my Hayes, but why spend money when I can waste time hacking at metal instead? Who knows how worthwhile the idea will be, but if I can shape my own short levers without too much hassle, I'll probably do it.
This thread will evolve with time as I come up with more ideas and complete other projects. I'm not too keen on taking up other peoples work for the sake of doing it for them (close friends excluded), but if ideas are put forward and I see the necessity/relevance for me to tackle it, who knows what'll happen.
Mod on :cool: