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I'm sorry, I tried to figure it out but just can't seem to follow along 🤔

What is this business with the tape measure all about? What are you making with it?
Found it! This is for the gear indicator strip, yes?

You can buy rolls of shim stock from McMaster-Carr, but the only one that's 3/8" wide is only .002" thick. Definitely flexible enough but might not last very long.

This stuff is also shim tape, so it's got adhesive on one side...maybe you could cut two pieces to length and carefully stick them to each other's sticky sides? Use a paper hole punch to cut the hole(s) in the end(s).

https://www.mcmaster.com/1143N225/
Still though, it makes me wonder if another carrier might have a larger selection (hard to imagine, McMaster seems to carry EVERYTHING).

Maybe a sheet of something thicker that you then cut a strip from. Obv. cutting a strip with both edges parallel is tough, but I wonder if you clamped it between some good flat wooden boards and went at it with a pizza cutter? Use a tablesaw rip fence as a straight edge (or clamp down another flat straight board or length of metal flat stock). Carefully make a couple passes with the pizza cutter and that might be enough to give you a line to snap it on?

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/shim-stock/shim-stock-6/
 
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I kept this in the back of my head as a fall back. I've been wrestling with some engineering solutions that would give me the ability to use an Excel brake lever so it would look right, but all my engineering solutions looks clunky and overkill in my head. So I think the double pull is the way to keep it looking cleaner on the bike. I researched the levers and found there were two types. The one above, and the one I got. I opted for the one I ordered because how I have thought about how I'm going to mount the lever on my bar, and how I'm going to route the housing so it doesn't look like an exploded mess. The answer: Bar tape. I'm going to wrap the housing to the bar like a road bike drop bar, and they'll pop out at the bottom and route to their respective calipers. For the most part this all makes sense in my head, but now I've got to make it look good in reality.
Here is what I ordered. You can see how the brake barrels line up differently, which will allow me to flow the housing right into the bar.

1696435140723.png
 
That's a sturdy looking piece! The clamp is nice, two bolts means the grips don't have to come off
Yes but... revisit page 1 and you'll see the bars. They'll be wrapped, so no grips. So the huge clamps will work against me. I'm going to see if I can engineer a solution when I get to that point.
 
Yes but... revisit page 1 and you'll see the bars. They'll be wrapped, so no grips. So the huge clamps will work against me. I'm going to see if I can engineer a solution when I get to that point.
What you choose to do with it in no way changes my opinion of the part. Still like the function, but sucks that it's working against your plans
 
I blame @The Renaissance Man for this next series of headaches. I was perfectly content in my ignorant bliss after cutting off the brace from my drum brake thinking it was for safety. As soon as he pointed it out I realized it was needed for operation. But it did look ugly and out of place on this set up. Anyway, it’s going to be a show bike, so it doesn’t have stop while racing downhill, but if you’ve learned anything about me it’s that my bikes not only need to look like they are factory builds, but they need to operate correctly. So I had to come up with a solution. I mulled this over for a long time and came up with something I hoped would work, so I got to work.

I spent an afternoon playing with thin cardboard designing pieces that would fit. These are what I came up with.
426EB8FF-3305-4E8E-9BE4-188F2EF9BFB5.jpeg


You may not be able to tell, but I thought a slot would be best on one of the pieces to account for any adjustments that may need to be made with installation once everything is complete.

So I had to start with the slots because they needed to be cut by our…
FAE0FE5D-0DA9-4D7C-A375-7B2A84A5515A.jpeg


So I used the scrap piece I cut other pieces for this hub seen earlier in the build so I could keep the thickness consistent. Once the slots were cut, I had an edge bent to 90 degrees in our press brake. Then I marked where I needed to cut them out with a saw.
B9EF327C-BA0C-4217-82E8-BC39939C0EB0.jpeg

28CEF42F-21FD-4CB8-B147-1DA792159538.jpeg

EC52ECB9-F89A-41F9-A5B2-37CDF363B50D.jpeg


At home I used the templates to guide me on my grinder to shape them.
804885E3-0C45-474B-954A-EEAB71BA9F1E.jpeg


The. I took them to work and had them welded in place.
FB885DD4-90E3-46F7-887C-2523960ADEDE.jpeg

3E4E1533-C6DC-4682-AAE5-6C939A64CD55.jpeg


It didn’t fit right away. So I had to grind and sand and adjust. But I got it.
622CFE90-CD74-4A08-AB36-D8BE801FFD7F.jpeg

31FFEE97-ACA0-4DCA-9EB7-62D96ABEA5AC.jpeg


The red you see is me marking the slot position on the inside tab, then dotting the center point. That tab is only tacked in so I could bend it if I needed to. So I’m going to take it back, get that piece fully welded on, then I’m going to have that center point drilled and tapped for a M6x1.0 bolt. I think the 12mm will be too long, so I’ll shave it down to fit. All-in-all it came out better than I expected, and I think once I get the welds smoothed out and the pieces plated, you won’t be able to tell it wasn’t original.
 
I need tips/tricks. I’ve never dealt with a rat trap before. I tapped that center bar out to get it apart so I could blast the fork. Now I can’t get it back in. The spring is fighting me. What’s a good way to do it?

View attachment 247821
I'd try starting another pin from the other side just to get it lined up. Then drive the existing pin through and let it push the second pin out. Essentially following it out. I've never tried this, just seems the way to go from looking at it.
 
I'd try starting another pin from the other side just to get it lined up. Then drive the existing pin through and let it push the second pin out. Essentially following it out. I've never tried this, just seems the way to go from looking at it.
Didn't scroll far enough to see you already had it handled. Nicely done.
 
I blame @The Renaissance Man for this next series of headaches. I was perfectly content in my ignorant bliss after cutting off the brace from my drum brake thinking it was for safety. As soon as he pointed it out I realized it was needed for operation. But it did look ugly and out of place on this set up. Anyway, it’s going to be a show bike, so it doesn’t have stop while racing downhill, but if you’ve learned anything about me it’s that my bikes not only need to look like they are factory builds, but they need to operate correctly. So I had to come up with a solution. I mulled this over for a long time and came up with something I hoped would work, so I got to work.

I spent an afternoon playing with thin cardboard designing pieces that would fit. These are what I came up with.
View attachment 249885

You may not be able to tell, but I thought a slot would be best on one of the pieces to account for any adjustments that may need to be made with installation once everything is complete.

So I had to start with the slots because they needed to be cut by our…
View attachment 249886

So I used the scrap piece I cut other pieces for this hub seen earlier in the build so I could keep the thickness consistent. Once the slots were cut, I had an edge bent to 90 degrees in our press brake. Then I marked where I needed to cut them out with a saw.
View attachment 249887
View attachment 249888
View attachment 249889

At home I used the templates to guide me on my grinder to shape them.
View attachment 249890

The. I took them to work and had them welded in place.
View attachment 249891
View attachment 249892

It didn’t fit right away. So I had to grind and sand and adjust. But I got it.
View attachment 249893
View attachment 249894

The red you see is me marking the slot position on the inside tab, then dotting the center point. That tab is only tacked in so I could bend it if I needed to. So I’m going to take it back, get that piece fully welded on, then I’m going to have that center point drilled and tapped for a M6x1.0 bolt. I think the 12mm will be too long, so I’ll shave it down to fit. All-in-all it came out better than I expected, and I think once I get the welds smoothed out and the pieces plated, you won’t be able to tell it wasn’t original.
Nicely done! :41:
 
I was going to mess with setting up the bars today, but the bottom threads on the steer tube are jacked up, so I’m going to take it to get chased tomorrow. Meanwhile, the front fender rattling around was bothering me, so I got a bolt set through it and cleaned up all the mounting.
4668A621-2599-4EEB-9880-8C24D849E952.jpeg

04EA1614-7236-4F04-BF1F-EF685C68EEF3.jpeg
 

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