TomGozza and a couple other local riders asked me to build up a couple of MUNI Black Cocks. Tom’s is on a CF seat base. I’ll post pics along the way as they go from raw materials to Black Cocks: Two leftys and a righty
Tis true that once you go black you never go back.
First day: Got materials measured and cut and tack welded in place, front lift handles milled for the bar and the anchor (not shown) for the 1.5" delrin ball welded into place. (The white blob under the seat base is a ball of modeling clay I use to get the parts aligned before I weld)
Haha, sure sure Tom. Better get used to it! It may be the first time it’s online, but it probably won’t be the last. Lots of people will want to see your “special handle” when you start whipping it out in the public arena. Haha.
Any options for an ambidextrous handle? These look really cool, but I like to change hands depending on camber or required lean for a particular corner.
Interesting idea . . .tho I have found that most riders have a preference for which hand they grab the lift handle with that is consistent about 95% of the time. That said, the lean angle of the BC handlebar isn’t so extreme that you can’t use the BC with the other hand as well.
I have thought about building a ginormously long BC as a joke. . . . Maybe like 14" long. And maybe there is a grip that has veins molded into it
Brycer
You can use either hand on the straight section, at times I switch hands on mine which have a similar design to Bryce’s, but the turn at the end is optimized for one hand or the other.
I suppose you could ask for the end to be pointed down in line with the wheel…but you probably won’t like it as much.
When i first started holding the seat bumper, it was with my left arm. Probably because i hold with the left when mounting. But i wanted to ensure i didn’t choose the wrong hand to start with, so started practicing both to see which was more comfortable.
Pretty soon i realised that certain sections of my bike path commute were more comfortable holding with opposite hands in opposite directions, due to camber. I have reduced torso twisting when holding with the hand on the lower side of the slope. Lately i’ve begun changing hands for sharp turns in different directions too. I tend to grab with the hand on the outside of the corner.
I havent experimented with different bars, just the seat bumper and kh tbar. Maybe i’ll rotate the tbar 90 degrees and see if i like a central bar. Not ideal though, the grip is too small among other problems. One of your black cocks, with a kink upwards could be just the ticket! I’m not sure too many folks would be comfortable riding along with a big long veiny bastard though…
Tirving had me build a black cock that will fit into his KH T bar holder. I know it was WAYYYY easier to build than the rail adaptor based cocks. Tim really likes it and it gives you the adjustability of the KH T-bar system to dial in the hand position. I made up a few extra of these if you are interested in trying one out, Search Tirving’s posts for some pics of this. I think Mbalmer also rides with one of these KH bar holder based black cocks, though she tried to hide its black cock-ish look with some girlie streamers or ribbons I recall - (but IMHO, it still looked like she was happy to see someone).
Ok, so for those of you that are looking at this and wondering why . . . . . .
Both the white delrin/nylon ball at the end, the bolted connection through the lift handle (think frenum piercing??) as well as the rubber grip are designed to be removable to slide a brake lever down over the shaft. (all threaded fasteners are welded into the bar “flush” so they don’t keep you from sliding a HS33 brake lever down over the bar). This positioning of the brake lever protects the lever blade from UPD damage and also puts your hand in a position to activate the brake with your pinkie and or ring fingers. This grip eliminates the need for a KH spooner because you are using it in more of a bike handlebar grip “position” . . . . if that makes sense.
There is a fair ammt. of labor to make these up as I customize each one for rider handedness and rider hand size.
I’ve been riding with a similar setup for a couple thousand km, and I have to say it is inherently a design for failure.
The problem spot is at the seat rail to rail adapter interface. The addition of the long lever arm to the front of the rail bracket transmits a lot of torque to those rails, ultimately leading to broken rails. They’re just not thick enough to handle the stress.
I’ve tried welding some cross-braces between the rails, and even welding the rails to the rail adapter. There is no fix that lasts for more than a few hundred km, or a few hard drops.
Yesterday was the failure of my 2nd rail adapter, even after having beefed it up with lots of ugly welding. I am now completely done with this design, as much as it saddens me. I’ve already taken a couple 10 mile walks to a trailhead… not again.
I’ll get some pictures and post them soon for illustration.
Yes, pics would be great.
I’ve been using this on fusion freeride saddles and CF saddle bases for several years and about 20 of these are now out in use with local riders and have just seen one come back to me with bent rails. I’ve experimented with reinforcing the rails with custom plate steel gussets and it fixed this problem by effectively shortening the rail length at each end. Since this hasn’t happened but once, I haven’t seen the need to reinforce the rails on the rest of the ones I ride.
Also, the bent rail problem is much less likely when the shaft is solidly bolted through the lift handle reinforcing the saddles existing stiffener plate. Later pics will show this detail, which is one of the last fabrication steps
Brycer
I don’t see any bolts in the pictures you’ve attached. Could you illustrate? I don’t understand how the rails are reinforced in this manner.
In my design, I cut the brake extension off and welded my shaft / handle assembly directly to the vertical plate. The only bolts were between the stiffener plate and the seat.
