Suicide shifter for Black Frak

[xddorox]

Just made the suicide shifter for my Black Frak rat chopper. It is at the rough stage and needs a shifter knob. Here are some pics so you can see how it's put together.

 

[Clothespin n]

cool,
what keeps it fixed to it's gear.
Is the Nut and Black washer where it mounts tight enough to shift...and loose enough not to skip it outa gear if you hit it with yur leg????

schweeeet!

 

[xddorox]

There's a fat nylon washer between the arm and the brace. It's put in there pretty tight, so the only thing holding it there is friction.

 

[Clothespin n]

how's the indexing..
find the gear and stop pullin the Shifter?

 

[xddorox]

We don't need no steeeking indexing! Shifter travel is not that long. I usually shift into the tallest or smallest gear anyways. Works good so far.

 

[Jim Richards]

Indexing?

I'm sure you already know this but... back in the day, thats how it was done. The stingrays and even the varsities used the friction thing. There was a ''friction'' washer- on the inside and the out side (in board &out board) in the set-up made from a kind of fiber that created ''drag'' and the the tension is regulated by a ''thumb screw'' on the out board end. After you learn how to use them, the real fun is trying to teach someane else how. Oh my god. I usualy say, you have to ''fish'' for the gears and don't bear down while shifting and don't shift wene going up hill and gear down wene you are going to stop (don't park it in a tall gear) And it's--what? do what, when? The Schwinn co. tried to put markings on the shifters, but as soon as the cables stretched a little (and they do) or the shifter got a little out of adjustment, the marks were a joke,then they simply marked north(up) high and down for low, and it was back to ''fishing''.....

 

[xddorox]

I'm a bike mechanic and none of my deraileur equiped bikes have index shifting. I know where to find the gear easily and indexing is just another thing that gets out of adjustement after a while. That's apart from the fact that friction shifters are very much available and those lycra clad folks look at you funny with your friction shifters :mrgreen: . Well they look at you funny because of your rat bike more than anything else, but then again, who's having more fun???? Me! 8)