Pazu

Until The End Of The World or Castle In The Sky

I see what you mean. I actually agree with you on this, thanks for clarifying. The things that we got away with as kids, as part of our ordinary learning experience, modern kids would be arrested for, and their parents as well. We learned hands-on, without the pressure of modern society's microscopic observation. Anyhow I see the validity of your point.

LoL! :bow: Thanks for the kind words, I think... And certainly you may. It is what it is. Stuck back together, nicely! The yellowed bit is from guitar, this is my fretting hand as I'm a lefty. **WARNING TO THE SQUEAMISH** There is a seriously gnarly image of a torn up finger, coming up in this thread. You have been warned!!!

Megadez these are interesting rotors, good researching. The interior hub segments look to be of anodized aluminum, must be much lighter than traditional rotors.

Yeah that could work, rotors come in lots of different styles, would have to cast ones for every style I suppose... So I heard back from SRAM/Avid, talked to a product development guy there, he says he will bring the idea to the table and see what other people think. His first thought was that rotors get to 400 F, good point but I pointed out that I was targeting trials riding & kids. I mentioned that high heat mylars and adhesives are out there. So I didn't get the "we can work with you on this" response that I had hoped for, but hey the guy was very decent and thoughtful on the phone so who knows. He gave me his email address to send my pic & link. I've checked & it appears that mylar film can handle 200 C, 392 F so it might work even then. I know from other experimentation that plastic films are okay conductors of heat and so the majority of the film would stay comparatively cool, and might even contribute to dissipating heat off of the rotor which if true would add to the positive rationale for the potential product.

Well I didn't call it "massive," just one way of avoiding one specific issue that doesn't come up much. I suppose that I have gone on, a bit... It is not critical. Surely I'm not the only one thinking about new products for the sport? Perhaps I'm the only one thinking about dumb, unnecessary products... I just think that somebody's momma would buy one of these for her kids' bike in a heartbeat, at the mere mention of it. And that's more work for the lbs, maybe advertising if there's print on it, could bring in other sales, I don't know. What can I say, I am a Noob, that's my excuse!

You seem to be suggesting that mechanical safety measures lead to carelessness. I would have to agree to disagree on that one, I do not think that there is a measurable correlation. Do you have an example of this to cite? There are on the other hand myriad examples of safety measures that have led to reduction in accidental injury, in about every field of human endeavor. We are all differently abled in terms of ability to interpret new situations and anticipate danger. Children don't have the experience discipline or mental development of an adult and so by definition are much more vulnerable to dangers such as this. Adults are prone to distractive secondary behavior such as drinking, sparking one etc. I am not judging this behavior, merely pointing out that altered states are common. This also makes people less aware of what they are doing. A protective mylar sticker over the chopping area of a brake rotor cannot in and of itself promote distractive behavior. I know that I am a very risk-averse person and understand that this is not an issue for an experienced mechanic or rider. It is getting through the NEWB stage with fingers intact that motivated me to think further about it. Again, we are talking about fingers of people here. Anyhow, I've called SRAM/Avid regarding the idea. They could easily have a product such as this on the market in no time. They would just call their sticker supplier with some dimensions & it would be done. So I'm pissed off at having cut myself on the rotor, fair enough but it's not about me it's about future riders and wanting to promote safety in an thrilling sport that I enjoy. Something so simple, lightweight and not performance-affecting, could have prevented this bloody injury of mine. I felt it worth mentioning, is all.

Insanity workout eh, I checked that, looks like the "muscle confusion" principle. No wonder you're kicking A. I am confused enough just trying to remember Pedal up, brake, pull bike to body, hop/crash. I can get 2 respectable hops but not yet reliably. I am close enough to know, I'll definitely get there.

LoL Revolver and Martin thank you for pointing out the obvious though it is not myself that is my concern; I've already learned the lesson here. It is others. Such as my two sons. Such as the woman missing finger and bone, from the earlier example in this thread. The kids at the skate park. Jamming a finger in a hand spun spoked wheel would have no effect, it is not the same thing. A disc brake is the same design as a meat grinder blade and works as effectively. Why do I have an exposed meat grinder blade on my bicycle... Overstating the obvious, don't put your finger there, yep that works, and it's always fun to call someone a f**cking moron, but keep in mind that there's lots of curious fingers out there. The only fingers under your control, are your own. Taping off a disc, lessens risk for others. Not saying that it's any big deal. Just that a potential solution is out there.

I wonder if this has been invented or suggested yet, I could not find it in a search. If done before, it bears repeating. Would be good for kids bikes. Here's a vid of my push test. Wouldn't be hard to tape a brake disc that was off of the hub, with a template of the circumferences involved. Clean it. Tape with overlaps across wax paper with packing tape, use the template to cut away the excess with Xacto knife. Peel away the wax paper then stick it on the outside facing of the disc. That's what I did, yes it's very crude because MY F'N FINGER IS IN A BANDAGE I decided that I would work on my bike with my riding gloves on now... No, they are not fingerless.

I'm becoming more and more afraid to check this post - as the tales from the field, become darker and darker. I'm beginning to suspect, why disc brakes work so well... they're the DEBBIL So it can be factually stated, that disc brakes are more dangerous than hydraulic or other systems, due to the "chop factor." Yikes!

Finally able to afford a decent trials bike, I've got my Neon Wing. Never had disc brakes before, haven't been able to afford them before. The Wing is dual disc. I had the bike on the work stand, working on chain tension, somehow unbelievably I allowed my right hand to drift too close to the rear wheel, touched a pedal with my left hand, wheel rolled a little and >SNIP< the rear brake disc bit the tip of my middle finger. Damn it I am always using that finger to express myself and need it to be as long as possible, for visual acuity. The rear wheel was barely moving yet there was still enough force to pin my finger between the fin of the brake disc and seat stay (if that's what it is called on a Mod). The inside edges of the stamped out disc are so sharp, it instantly cut my finger about 1/3 through so, I've still got all my fingers & toes but WATCH IT if you are new to disc brakes, these things could take off a finger in an instant. Now I can barely type and have to lay off trials for a few days until my finger tip sticks back together. No guitar either, STOOPID! I will not be making this mistake twice and hope that by mentioning it, I can help some other NOOB avoid this unpleasant surprise. Please be more careful than I was! I'm thinking of covering the spaces between the fins with packing tape or something. Probably there is a reason why that isn't done. A decal that was cut to fit the dimension of the slots, would do it. I can't believe that there is much heat build up on those discs while riding trials, but I don't really know.

Wazzer, encouraging to hear how fast you have progressed. I'm still working on getting on to the rear wheel reliably. About that noise from your front, what was solution/are your spokes tensioned okay? I heard a sound from my front & found that most of my radial side spokes were 4+ turns loose somehow! Had to re-true the wheel. Have you found that you are actually losing weight, I seem to be.

Well thanks for accommodating the weird language and for generally trying to help out, you are setting a good example and it has made a big difference in my figuring out my mod. I broke my leg in the street on a mountain bike when I was 20, I'll have to check for a "crash stories" thread on here, I've got a few. 3 mild spills today, just had a helmet, terrain was steep class 6 dirt road, partially washed out. I'm just riding the bike, F it, if it breaks then I'll stop. I think the BB is just wrong for the crank arms. I may pull them and take pics through the crank arm but I think it's just milled straight through. I might be able to mill the hole slightly larger to correct the issue but first I'll try these crank arms on the new BB that Topgears is sending, they might work fine on that BB. Anyhow my hop is higher than ever and balance is getting more focused, I feel pretty good for basically day 2.

On the right is an 8-up USB relay board, I have two of these relay boards, a guy in Ukraine makes them for cheap. Making a battery operated network toggle-able 16 relay setup for home automation. The Raspberry Pi did not do Flash or Java last time I checked which is all that limits it really.

Hey Ogre here's a shot of one side. It appears to me, that this is nowhere near seated to the mark on your picture. Could be 1/4" off or more.

Okay I see where you have indicated, I will check that when I get home. Thanks for the pic. Though it doesn't come up much and I don't look it, I'm probably older than most beginning trials riders. I have ankle pads, and the shin guards that I have, happen to have knee guards attached. Other than those, I have elbow/upper arm pads, to avoid splintering an elbow on something. I don't have much control on this mod yet and I don't think that I have read enough or have enough experience to know quite what to expect from a fall. I bought the pads because I can use them for another sport as well. I suppose that I can forego the back pad and elbow pads, and a face mask. As for a face mask, I'm also taking up the sport of Kitewinging this winter and a face mask could be helpful there as the wing can come around fast and clock you in the face with force if the wind changes or something goes wrong. Plus it will help to keep my face warm. Older people look pretty foolish all banged up. I don't want to go into the office limping with a bashed up elbow, and have to explain how I got that way. Basically I am too old to appear reckless. I can still BE reckless, I just don't want to look like I have been reckless or disregarded safety. I work with mostly gray haired, hopelessly overweight people with beer guts who are very conventional and do little apart from watch TV spend money & drink beer. Not that there's anything wrong with those things. I also have two boys and need to set an example of safety and forethought for them. I want to demonstrate taking chances, but with some safety. I hear what you are saying, I'm being overly careful. I'll stick to just being somewhat careful!

Check it out, the right bracket wasn't available so they just sent what they had. They are making it right, awesome! Loving trials! On 2012-08-03 09:13, TOPGEARS . wrote: > We've checked the photos and has determine to send a new BB, the BB > on the bike you have is a 128mm, when we sent the bike the smallest > size (118mm) was out of stock and now it should be in stock in a > couple of days. We will send it along with the Lever Asap. > > Regards, > Topgears

Okay thanks Dan I'll try to watch it. When I was getting pads, I noticed this big rather scary looking "back pad" available online. Do you think that a back pad would help with this bottom of the back concern? I have no problem wearing pads, I wear a lot now. I still take crazy chances but have to get my skills going before I can apply this to trials. I'm thinking about getting some sort of face mask as well, wanting to keep my teeth if possible... Here's the back pad I was looking at: http://www.xsportspr...ector-2010.html I hope that your back gets less painful soon!

Yes, see I don't have the leverage over these guys in China, i'm rather at their mercy. For all that I know, they could be reading these posts! If it were a local bike shop and I could prove that I was jerked around, I would have no problem letting myself off of the leash a little, or maybe even coming in with police. In this case though, I have to stay nicey-nicey because it is technically my fault that I chose a bike shop in mainland China to do business with. I was looking at the bottom line, when maybe I should have been thinking more about reputation and service. I have to be reasonable about the distance and so, very patient. So frustrating, but I have to be cool. If they truly dick me over I'll have to take some action but TOPGEARS is still in my good graces. I make mistakes too. I bought a car recently, when I lost the brakes to my "race truck" - 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 2wd w/suicide back doors, last of the 318 motors. I had to work, had to have a vehicle so was forced to get what I could get fast. Transmission line went in the car that I bought, a week after I got it, stranded me several towns over, after working a Sunday, I was ripping mad. I let the garage have it. I got that guy some stirred up ha ha! He made it right that day, didn't want any trouble with me, but let me know over and over that I was way too intense. I have yet fix those truck brakes... I have just pounded those crankarms on, now you want me to take them off again, damn! What am I looking for? I'll have to clean the grease off of everything to get a halfway decent pic. Happy to do it & I appreciate the advise. That Ashton looks sweet as well. I can't get enough of bikes, would work in the field but it's actually somewhat competitive around here, and i don't think that the bike mechs make much for take home pay around here, I suppose that they do it because they love the lifestyle. Unfortunately with 2 kids, child support and expensive interests I need to rake in more cash than that. Couldn't I ACE bandage my ankles to help defend against twists, at least initially? They are still 100% now. I'm sooo glad that I'm on a mod, the ground is so much closer. And I'm seeing a lot of it lately I haven't heard back from TOPGEARS yet. Just trying to be patient.

Hey Ogre your Ashton Effect is awesome. And that's some serious drop you pull off in the photo series, it's inspiring.

The two pictures attached are before and after hammer time. The outdoors picture is the before. It was tricky because I had to have the other side of the bracket against a solid surface in order to tap on the front side. Anyhow they are seated as they are ever going to seat. Might've moved a fraction on the chain side, chain is a bit more slack now. The awkward landings are from falling fast off the back of the bike, leaning to one side or the other after trying to get up on the back wheel. I can tell that it wouldn't be too hard to end up with a twisted ankle from the backward and sideways momentum, particularly on irregular ground where I'm not sure what was behind me. And going over backwards from wheelies. It's not a problem, I'll just keep at it. I am also trying the idea of just bringing my weight back until the front end slowly comes off of the ground. I'm planning to try getting my front wheel on my steps and hopping off of that. I'm more or less going for rear wheel hops and generally just riding the bike, getting used to it. Riding it around a small rough trail that I have on my property. It takes maybe a minute to loop the trail. I have a few pallets that I can start experimenting with. Just need to keep doing it. A lot of my time has been spent in this troubleshooting phase.

I had not considered that the wider stance was an advantage. Yes a spacer could go between the rear cog and the hub. I can use a piece of wood & a hammer to try your suggestion. That and a spacer, might just do enough of it. I like these cranks, they are light, I just hope that I don't blow one apart. I did see that there were 122.5mm bottom brackets available at tartybikes, something like that I suspect would be better than what I have. I thought that I might remove the whole BB, to see if the size and type are written on it. I want for this thing to be right, beginning trials is hard enough as it is. I failed to get the crank/BB fitting done. I described the situation to two of the bike store guys that I had the attention of, and told them that I showed up there to try fitting the crank arm to a different bottom bracket, to try to isolate which piece might be the issue. One of them went back & the BMX guy returned instead, I believe. Anyhow they got on the track of the BB dimension and I suppose that sort of derailed the focus, that and the bike itself. One said he thought it not unusual to have some spline showing, but he was on the other side of the counter from me, not sure that he could actually see it! They never actually produced the BB that I had asked about initially. The mechanic who took the most interest said he thought that the bike shop just didn't bother to order the right size BB for the frame, He probably didn't have any either as you say. Sorry to run on about it. Got a bit of riding in, finally remembering to decrease the pressure in the tires, which smoothed out my track stand. I have started practicing bringing the bike up and over from the track stand, but I"m going to have to put some solid hours in at this, to drive home the simple timing of locking the rear brake at the balance point while setting up for a first bounce. In a controlled fashion that is. I'll get it. I have good shoes and pads, gloves with wrist support and helmet but what I am noticing is that my ankle landings are awkward. Good on my feet but as a beginner I am not used to the weird angles. I want to get something in place for ankle support. Thanks again for helping out Ogre. I'll see if I can drift the crank arms on further.

I hear what you are saying Stuvy, I paid for a functional bike & that's not what they sent me! So I just got home from the bike shop, off early from work, having worked @ home late last night. The bike shop guys were sort of wide eyed over the bike ha ha! I could tell that they were happy to check it out. The old guys were all "this spacer needs to go over here" and "this is all backwards" but the younger guys got what was going on pretty quick. A younger guy covered in tattoos came out from the back and took over, looked it over, said "yep, chain definitely out of alignment, the bottom bracket is too wide for this bottom bracket shell, you need a shorter bottom bracket so that your chain will be perpendicular to the bracket spindle and axle axis." He had ridden BMX for awhile and knew right away that it was a mod. He said I should get the bike shop I bought it from to get the right bracket for the bike. I have to take a measurement of the bracket shell now I guess though everything I have measures in inches and I think it needs to be in mm. Anyhow I sent pics of the issue to TOPGEARS and told them what the bike shop said. I really want to believe in this shop TOPGEARS because I feel their prices are the lowest and their bikes are the lightest that I have seen. But, it really comes down to delivering for the customer and I don't think that they are there quite yet. Although I hope that TOPGEARS does make that snapped brake lever clamp issue right by sending me another, it isn't critical because now the Avid Dial 7 levers that I ordered, have come in. In other advice from Omer & Bob's (the bike shop), I showed them the slack chain and told them how it goes slack in the first pedal crank or so. I told them that I was a bit nervous about tightening the axle bolts too much. The tattoo guy said I had to tighten them as tight as they can get, but that if I feel it stripping, to stop before I do any damage! I thought that was funny, isn't the damage already done at that point?

I'm a Tartybikes customer, I bought my guide to trials riding from them. I can try that. I heard back from TOPGEARS, I had asked if it could have been possible that I got spindle & crank arms milled to different specs, they said they weren't sure and to send pictures, so I'll do that. I'm stopping by the bike shop today, now wishing I had pulled the cranks first! Gotta keep my tool kit in the car I guess. They will charge me for pulling the crank no doubt. TOPGEARS is in China I think & they hold all of the cards, they have my $$ & I've got what they sent me. I haven't heard back from them on the brake lever issue either, they asked for a pic which I sent, then nothing. So I'm hoping that is on the way. Thanks for your having noticed that the spindle was showing in the picture, Ogre. I noticed it but, didn't think much of it at the time. Anyhow, getting to the bottom of it.