Having put V brakes on my muni (Nimbus 26") I noticed that the flex in the saddle made braking very hard to modulate, especially on steeps with drops / rocks. To get over this I extended the old bar end I’m using for a lever mount, up to a plate on the bolts holding the handle on.
Result? Bomber rigid handle. It’s only when you stop it moving you realise how much of your effort on climbs has been going into flexing the saddle. Braking is also much more predictable. Well worth the extra ounce or two of steel.
Also pic there of my wheel, rebuilt last night as 3 leading - 3 trailing, onto a chromo wide hub, after I bent the old one. I Even managed to find some M2.5 brass washers to washer the spoke heads, after seeing it here on a previous thread.
Bill’s design got me to thinking, but then I saw joe’s and plan to copy his. Hope that is OK Joe?
His frame does look very weird in the seat stiffener photo. After looking at it closer, I believe it is a very short Yuni, with the picture taken from a shallow angle. --chirokid–
Of course it’s ok to copy. It’s a bit of a fiddle getting it to fit the seat at exactly the right angles. I ended up tack welding it bolted to the seat, then quickly throwing it in a bucket of water before the seat base melted.
My frame has been shortened by 2" off the seat tube, because I couldn’t reach the pedals otherwise.
Now I’ve stuck some paint on it looks slightly less crappy! (Pic is with old hub and spoke pattern)
Oh, and the bit on the brake lever is just a sliver of ally plate, bolted into a little hole tapped in the end of the lever, so I can get 2 fingers onto it. It’s sized and shaped so I can wrap 2 fingers around the handle, and the lever misses them even when pulled right in. It’s only thin ally so that it’s sacrificial. When I crash the finger plate bends and stops the lever breaking.
You can nearly see in the pic, I had to adapt the lever mount (more 2mm ally plate) so it can come off the side of the tube. With a bit of thought , maybe mounting to only 3 of the bolts, it should be possible to make it so the lever comes on and off the end normally. I mught hav to do this when I get the disc brake sorted out, as i don’t want to go cutting up an expensive hydraulic lever and caliper unit.
Great Joe. I hope to have mine made by the end of this week. I will give the pictures to my welder tomorrow. Thanks for the tips. BTW, my welder builds race cars frames for a living. Surely he can handle a KH Seat Stiffener. --chirokid–
My bracket is very stiff. I couldn’t imagine it much stiffer. I like Joe’s design for someone who has access to welding or wants to pay a welder to do some work. Joe’s design looks more trick. Mine is home grown and all I needed was a hacksaw, a file and a drill. I’m biased of course, but given two options with comparable results, I choose simple and cheap as the best option. Joe’s design does not need the addtional mounting tube on the seat post. Mine does. Plus for Joe’s design.
I mentioned in the other thread that I would use a little stronger aluminum angle since mine has bent a little. It’s still holding up and may last until I start hopping up onto those 30" tall platforms. (NOT with this old body!)
would it be possible to combine the two designs?
then it could be used with a standard seat post, and not need a welder.
if somebody started making the front end mount, in steel, i’d have to consider buying one. my kh seat is far too flexy.
As both designs stand, they only suit one particular seat angle. With a bit of jiggling it’s perfectly possible to make a universal one to suit any seat orientation, and mount brakes / computers / etc easily, though getting the same level of stiffness without too much weight would need a bit of headscratching…
but given two options with comparable results, I choose simple and cheap as the best option. Joe’s design does not need the addtional mounting tube on the seat post. Mine does. Plus for Joe’s design.