One thing I learned is that having chosen Paul Motolites made this project significantly more expensive. Each cockpit has its own noodle. And with most brands/styles of linear pull brake, my approach to this would have meant replicating a $5-$10 part for each cockpit. With the Motolites, I think it was more like $35 for each cockpit to get the "hooked canoe / noodle" combination.
I do *not* regret choosing the Motolites. They really have a noticeably better feel than other linear-pulls I tried (Deore, Tektros). Now, there may be non-Motolite alternatives that I would be just as happy with. And that would not incur the multi-cockpit $ penalty. But... I do love the Motolites. And at some point you just stick with what you know works and quit looking. The only real suggestion I have (beyond anything I put into the cockpit web page) is to get cable cutters that work well. I started out with a set from Park that were truly horrible. It was so frustrating to burn through my entire supply of cables being unable to get a clean cut. I've since become convinced that these were an anomalously bad set. But the ones I use now are Shimano brand. And work beautifully. I can't remember where on the web I got them. Generally speaking, I positioned the three couplers (rear brake, front/ rear derailer) a few inches below the housing stop (downtube for the derailer, top tube for the brake). That few inches allowed for more than enough "travel" in the bare cable between the stop and the male coupler. I didn't do any precise measurement. If there's an optimizing principle behind the choice that I either should have followed or accidentally did follow, I gave it no thought. I just knew that the cable had to be able to travel sufficiently to do its job (i.e. travel without the coupler running into the stop). If I go through the whole process again at some point (just to freshen all of my cables at once, say), I'll give some thought to putting the couplers as close as feasible to the stops (with safety margin of course). Somehow that seems right. But... like I say, I only know now that I'll look into that when the time comes. I have no problem to solve with the way mine are positioned now. They function perfectly. I'll link this thread to some pictures tonight. Now that I think of it, the coupler positioning may not be all that apparent in any of the pictures I have linked in my cockpit story's web page. Yours, Thomas Lynn Skean On May 18, 11:13 pm, ekoral <[email protected]> wrote: > Wow Thomas, that's quite in depth. I've thought about trying to set up > a davinci system between my Noodles and Albatross. How, and where did > you set up the davinci couplers? i can't really decide what would be > an optimal place for them. It looks like we have similar setups. I > have the Paul motolites on my Atlantis and I find myself changing bars > ALOT, costing me tons of dough in cables and housing. > > Let me know if you've got any suggestions, a good place to start, and > also possibly a shopping list. When I take on a project like this, i > end up in the bike shop three or four times in that same day. It gets > to be frustrating. > > Thanks! > Eli > > On May 18, 4:39 pm, Thomas Lynn Skean <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hi! Go for it! Here's my story: > > >http://home.comcast.net/~thomaslynnskean/cockpits > > > Yours, > > Thomas Lynn Skean > > > On May 18, 3:41 pm, Zack <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hey All - > > > > I have a Sam on the way, and am strongly considering trying to set up > > > the davinci splitters so that I would be able to swap between Noodles > > > and Albatrosses (Albabtri?). I am going with bar end shifters and > > > canti brakes. > > > > I have heard varying reports on how difficult this is, and am > > > wondering if anyone that has done it can share some insight into > > > setting them up. > > > > How long did it take? > > > How did you do it? (particularly, how did you account for the added > > > complexity of needing to cut the cables for the two different setups) > > > Where did you make your cuts in the cable? > > > Did you have cantilever brakes? Does it change how I would do things? > > > > I would really appreciate some help/insight/instructions. I have > > > googled around and searched the groups, but most of what i have found > > > simply says "it's awesome to do this and be able to swap cockpits" but > > > haven't found anything that talks about how to actually do it. The > > > instructions I have found are all geared toward using the splitters > > > for the intended purpose of being a travel bike, so they aren't > > > concerned with the extra complexity of a different cockpit type. > > > > Thank you in advance for weighing in and helping me (and maybe others) > > > out. Appreciate it. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
