Staffy
It's not yours 'til you cut it up.
Shock adjuster tool. Cost about 50cents (maybe less) for a bit of scrap steel and wear and tear on tools....
I sat my ass on the bike last night and it hurt because the bloody shocks i've got for it were wound up to suit a mastodon or humback whale or something. That pissed me off as i don't have a spring adjuster tool. I went onto ebay and after exclaiming "How much do they want for that chunk of steel?" i decided to make my own.
Start of with the trusty piece of scrap steel you've been using to build all the stuff on your bike. I think this stuff is about 3-4mm thick. On it you need to mark out your rough shape. The think to keep in mind is most of these tools you'll see have the key (the bit that goes into the hole on the shock) around 135 degrees from the heel (the bit that joins the handle to the inside curve). That is so the handle will "pull into" the shock and cause it to turn rather than slip out. I made up a roughly 35mm radius which is about the same as the shock.
No metal jigsaw blade at hand? Haven't gone and splashed out on a dremel yet? Never fear. Drill some small holes (not too close to the radius) along the curve. Follow this by drilling these out with a bigger diameter so the holes join together.
Cut out the rest roughly with an angle grinder
finish of with a flap disc, file, bench wheel, whatever you have. I held down my grinder upside down on the bench and used it like a grinding wheel (but i don't endorse this technique
) to get all the rough edges out. I ended up having to take a lot more out of the heel to get it right. Just do a bit then check it, a bit more then check it until it comes out right.
I now have rear suspension instead of a spine breaking system.
I sat my ass on the bike last night and it hurt because the bloody shocks i've got for it were wound up to suit a mastodon or humback whale or something. That pissed me off as i don't have a spring adjuster tool. I went onto ebay and after exclaiming "How much do they want for that chunk of steel?" i decided to make my own.
Start of with the trusty piece of scrap steel you've been using to build all the stuff on your bike. I think this stuff is about 3-4mm thick. On it you need to mark out your rough shape. The think to keep in mind is most of these tools you'll see have the key (the bit that goes into the hole on the shock) around 135 degrees from the heel (the bit that joins the handle to the inside curve). That is so the handle will "pull into" the shock and cause it to turn rather than slip out. I made up a roughly 35mm radius which is about the same as the shock.
No metal jigsaw blade at hand? Haven't gone and splashed out on a dremel yet? Never fear. Drill some small holes (not too close to the radius) along the curve. Follow this by drilling these out with a bigger diameter so the holes join together.
Cut out the rest roughly with an angle grinder
finish of with a flap disc, file, bench wheel, whatever you have. I held down my grinder upside down on the bench and used it like a grinding wheel (but i don't endorse this technique
) to get all the rough edges out. I ended up having to take a lot more out of the heel to get it right. Just do a bit then check it, a bit more then check it until it comes out right.
I now have rear suspension instead of a spine breaking system.
