RealLITE on BoB YAK Trailer
Ever since I bought our BoB YAK trailer and got caught after dusk on 2004 Tour de Florida, I've been concerned that a much better rear facing light is necessary to be seen at night. The RealLITE is well known to be the biggest rear bicycle light but: how to mount it on YAK? 2006 Feb 3, I bit the bullet and fabricated a mount for the YAK fender from a block of 5/8" lucite. It was a bitch of a job! I'm not showing a closeup of the mount because, if you want to make one, use some other material. Dick Janson's mounting instructions explicitly state to have the RealLITE hang below its mount rather than above it but, it this configuration, I had no choice. Click here to view before and after pix of this installation.
Tandem Topper for Camry
Having traded the Mazda for the Camry, I decided to devise a topper that didn't require disassembling Maizey (See "Half Bike" below). I didn't copy this two rack solution from any other I've seen so I'll take credit for it. We aready had a Rhode Gear Euroshuttle, IMHO the best trunk rack ever devised but, for some unknown reason, no longer manufactured by RG. I bought one Yakima bar, towers, fork mount, and locks. I installed the bar exactly Maizey's wheel base forward of the Euroshuttle's secondary wheel tray used to stow the front wheel of a bike racked on the trunk. This isn't a one person solution, Jeanne must hoist Maizey's rear wheel to the tray while I mount the fork, but it's far more convenient than partially disassembling Maizey. The bra is a worthwhile addition, it keeps a lot of bug smashes off Maizey. However, don't ask about the reduction in the Camry's fuel mileage with this rig on top.
Small Engine Flywheel Puller
OK, some days, you eat the bear and, some days, the bear eats you. This concoction didn't work. I split this board and two more, the third a laminate, with the force I torqued up on the central bolt. After that, I fabricated two boards, installed crossgrained, and they didn't split with as much pressure as I could torque up but the flywheel didn't pop off either. Friend Wayne Miller kept telling me to pry with screwdrivers while hitting the engine shaft with a hammer. Failing to get the flywheel to pop off, I took it to Crocker's in Raleigh, a small engine shop. The mech used a screwdriver and a hammer and the flywheel popped off. My concoction was still attached and he agreed that it was providing substantial pressure. OK, so the bear didn't eat Wayne ... this time.
Those big bolts were unnecessary. Didn't want to spend a dime on this project so I used 8" bolts I had on hand from the pumpjack pole splices for my lightning repair project. Cut those PVC spacers from spare pipe I had on hand to take up the excess length. The mech at Crocker's didn't charge me anything for his hammer and prybar success, only $1 for the flywheel key.
Damn! I reassembled the lawn mower, pushed it to the powerline easement, and started to use it. In 10 minutes, it quit. I suspected the flywheel key had sheared again. Disassembled and popped flywheel off with a prybar and hammer, thank you, Wayne. Yeah, that key lasted only 10 minutes. Bought another key, reassembled the mower, out to the powerline easement again, was much more careful avoiding stumps, and completed the job.
Timing Chain Puller
This tool contributed by Larry Fafarman. Larry's description from T@H slightly edited.
Hypercracker
This tool contributed by Jeff Ackerman. Jeff's description from T@H slightly edited: Started with a regular shimano cassette tool and ground the large portion down so that it just fits between the cassette lock ring and the dropout. Welded on a metal block that just fits into the bottom of the dropout under the axle.To use: remove the rear wheel, install the tool in the cassette lock ring, reinstall the wheel with the metal block in the dropout slot, and push the bike backwards now that the lock ring is linked to the dropout. Stop as soon as the lockring loosens so as not to wedge the tool against the dropout.
The tool weighs a fraction of an ounce, smaller than 1" square, is much stronger than the original hypercracker, and has no arm (like the original hypercracker) that goes over the chainstay to mar the paint. It must be tailored to fit your specific dropout.
Cateye Astrale Splice
I installed matched cyclecomputers for pilot and stoker activated from one pair of pickups. While cadence is looked down upon by the cognoscenti, I like it. The Cateye Astrale is my choice for cyclecomputer enabling display of either speed or cadence plus one other measurement or both speed and cadence. The harness wires are very tiny but can be cut, spliced, and soldered. The wheel pickup wire has a line of dots, a white insulated signal line, and a ground line. The crank pickup wire has no line of dots, a red insulated signal line, and a ground line. After stripping back the external insulation and the internal red and internal white insulation, combine the three reds, the three whites, and the two sets of grounds separately. Solder the four sets (shown) and cover each with heat shrink.
Redefining the term "Half Bike"
For short automobile trips, rather than decouple the tandem and pack it, I separate the rear triangle only from the rest of the frame. The rear triangle stows in the trunk and the front 2/3rds can be mounted on our trunk rack. Here it is with my 'dale on the other mount.
Speedplay Greaser Enhancement
I drilled, tapped threads, and installed an automobile Zerk grease fitting in the greaser. This enables me to use the mechanical advantage of a grease gun to force grease thru the pedal to the spindle. Of course, the greaser is a friction fit in the spindle hole so not much leverage is necessary to blow it out. I have to hold the greaser in the pedal while my cycling-love-slave levers the grease gun but it works.
Presta Stem Enhancement
Some tubes have an unthreaded section of the stem where the pump washer sits, some don't. On those that don't, I file the threads off for about 5 mm to seat the washer smoothly.
HiTech Tire Boot
Yeah, a dollar bill works, a small section of tire casing works, but this works even better. Cut a 1/2" diameter disc from a plastic soda bottle. Scissors work or you can buy a plug cutter at Home Depot if you have a lot of tire trouble. Use a normal patch and rubber cement to apply the disc to the inside of the tire covering the hole. Note that the disc has a curvature based on the bottle and you want to position it to match the curvature of the tire casing. I'm currently running one of these at 120 psi in a notoriously weak sidewall Conti with success so far. YMMV!
Work Stand - Single Bike Model
I built this for a single (tandem is recent so no stretch-model yet) using sawhorse brackets. Cost ~$15 due to the pipe stock fork mount, commercial such cost $20 alone. Steel 2*4s are a bit unstable, twisty, wood would be better but heavier. Note cutouts at the sawhorse brackets because a length of volunteer 2*6 was available and brackets require 2*4; I'm nothing if not frugal. The raised BB support is necessary to enable the crankset to rotate.