drj0n bagworks

[BreninBeener]

Have we been able to see if the required faceplates fit other stems?

Ian

[drjon]

the faceplates for syntace stems come in 2 flavours - M5 bolt and M6 bolt. they are ~40mm c-c - i'll measure to the .00 mm this week as several folk are interested. also, they are l and r so width doesnt mater, the clamp for syntace stems is a 200 degree to main recepticle design. i cant advocate them being used on othe stems - i dont have a testing protocol - but if the c-c is the same i dont see why it wouldnt work, though frequent checking would be sensible! - ill bosh in some transfer screws and measure accurately this week and come back.

i'm tempted to go to syntace and see what they think of the whole concept - im just finishing off a second flat Strap Deck plate - workshop time is very limited at the moment! though they still require several set up steps while drilling the holes accurately, the transfer screw and punches have taken the need for painstaking measurement out of the equation.

its a damn shame getting moulds and cnc work is so expensive and has such big minimums! - dont give up the day job eh?

[BreninBeener]

Thats ace. Come payday i will order a set and see if they work with any of my stems.

Then i will pester for a beta set of your mounts.

Regards

Ian

[drjon]

ok, quick update - the c-c for each side of all syntace stems I have is 40.15mm. if it helps that is more than for a Thomson stem. so - the Twinfix stems face plates may work with other stems, but you would have to measure up. FWIW, the face plates seem backward compatible with older style stems, and they can be had for relatively good prices.

I made another Strap Deck plate, using a different method for centring the holes required and it worked well, so I'll test the thing out and see how it goes.

[Mart]

I saw some Bontrager stems that looked similar to that Synace (much cheaper too)
Now that got me thinking if I could get the synace adaptor to fit.

[BreninBeener]

I really like this...i have two bikepacking bikes, one gravel, one rigid mtb. I have measurwd the stems using my vernier calipers

Reilly is...
I/s 30.6mm
O/s 50.4mm
Bolt head 10.2mm
So assume c-c of 50.4 - 10.2 = 40.2 mm

Cube (spesh stem)
O/s 49.0mm
Bolt head 8.0mm
So assume c-c of 49.0 - 8.0 = 41.0 mm

With the stated c-c from DrJ, then the Reilly stem looks like it could be slightly modified with a dremel or needle file. Is the change from 41.0mm to 40.15mm going to be structurally too much? Will i die?

[ScotRoutes]

I'm sure have a Syntace stem somewhere (Cube branded). I'll look it out and check length etc.

[BreninBeener]

Did syntace make stems for all the Cube bikes?

[drjon]

yeah, if you poke around on German eBay there are often cube, syntace - designed stems for sale. I reckon it would be surprising if the c-c was different, but then again, it remains a possibility....they are often cheaper than syntace and you can always remove decals w a bit of rubbing acetone...

for example https://www.ebay.de/itm/Cube-Stem-75mm- ... SwnfRcCRNy

be aware that some of the older style syntace stems used M6 bolts, where as only the flat force and megaforce do these days...the rest use M5.

id have to say I wouldn't recommend modifying the face plates. your well being relies on its integrity...

[BreninBeener]

I have a couple of cube stems...i will check and report back!

[drjon]

turned my attention back to bar end stash tools. #stashmoretools

the bit driver is a special one off ti tool, with integrated 2mm hex on the end, made for me by my good friend Sean at Vertigo Cycles https://www.instagram.com/vertigocycles/.

I wanted the holder to be worthy of the tool, so scratched my head for a number of weeks about how I was going to do it.

Ive made other bar end stash tools over the years and they are real handy.

[drjon]

once the initial parts we're made, I changed my mind about how the delrin section would hold the tool. initially, I was going to mill out a cavity for it, but felt that wasn't clean enough, so split the piece and hollowed out the head to make a simple press on 'top'

[drjon]

the last job is to create the mechanism for holding the tool in the bar end. I use pvc tubing, that is compressed by 2 cones, that are held from rotating by friction with the pvc. the ends then are forced outwards and increase the diameter uniformly and that creates the hold. it works well and doesn't come loose.

to achieve this I needed a small conical piece bored for the aluminium, knurled bar end thumb screw.







Next, I drop bits into split pvc tubing a la the industry 9 matchsticks tool, and this is held onto the handle of the tool as it protrudes from the bar end holder.



a run of double sided velcro is useful to have and stops rattling.



light,, too....

[BreninBeener]

Wow loving that!

Splendid!

Ian

[b_black]

So I've been following your projects for a while and was thinking about this stem mounted solution the other night when I remembered I'd previously seen someone using a Thomson direct mount stem to act in a similar way. Could this be an alternative option to mount a strap deck too and given that it has two bolt holes it may even be able to handle more weight?

morgan-taylor-home-hacked-decaleur-8.jpg

(119.45 KiB) Downloaded 2046 times

[techno]

that's very cool, thanks.
more images here: https://theradavist.com/2016/06/my-home ... an-taylor/

cheaper than a thompson: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nuk ... prod158778

[Mart]

Im likeing the sound of this

[drjon]

I have those pages bookmarked too! there is a diy decaleur group on Flickr that has some good ideas as well....

The Thomson is the nicest looking id say, more so if you can find a deal on it somewhere!

the short answers are 'yes'

the spacing for bottle cages bolts is 64mm and there is a few mm to play with on the Strap Decks, as the holes are ovals so as long as you can get the Thomson Dh (or another brand) that far apart, you are on a winner - in addition there would be no reason to think it wouldn't take a fair old amount of volume/weight - which the Twin fix has yet to be tested for over enough time...(im thinking 1.5-2kg ish - a sleep system type of a thing....). I find much more than that starts to adversely affect steering, but the Decks themselves are pretty robust so Its probably not a ceiling limit...

ive been using the set up ...



above for a while now and its just....well, great.

the reason I ended up with the twin fix is because I wanted to avoid having more stuff clamped to the bars, although I did make some spacers and then got a https://meriwethercycles.com/bars-shims/ Shimzilla so I could do just that if I needed to,.,,



;-)~

[drjon]

the only other thing you'd need to bodge with the DH stems are the mount bolts are M6, and the Strap Deck or bottle cages M5, but nowt a washer won't sort out....

[techno]

Twinfix is definitely a neater solution.
I think using 4 x M6 bolts you could safely add some stand-offs to help clear cables.
4 stand offs bolting on a plate which the strap deck is then mounted to.

[drjon]

that would definitely give you clearance and adaptability....its funny - although there is very little curve to the Decks, the stability even with 6"/15cm roll bags is amazing. the reason I even began looking at it as a bar harness alternative was when I stopped using Jones bars and hence 4 point mounting ( I think the harness I made is earlier in this thread) became less easy...I tend to go very light and although adding a decaleur set up adds weight, actual harness set ups can be heavy in themselves so its a wash....

ive been meaning to make a simple plate that mounts via the 4 bolts of a Thomson faceplate with wee stand offs on the bolts...essentially a copy of rick hunter's set up but avoiding the Paul stem necessity. I visited with rick recently and his stuff is so cool...a real inspiration.

[techno]

Yeah, my revelate harness is great but reassuringly heavy.
A 4 point mounted strapdeck copy count be good. Maybe a sheet of thick plastic with slots for straps. That would be more streamlined....

[drjon]

so these came through from the 3D printer - im calling them G-funk's - 31.8mm clamps that will take a 35-40mm M5 bolt and will therefore hold a bottle cage, Strap Deck or anything else to your handlebars (or anything else that can be shimmed to 31.8mm)



the other part, called a Barnacle, is a stick and or zip tie on M5 boss, put them anywhere - im collecting data and will offer 3 shapes, flat backed for carbon or very big diameter tubes, a downtube/fork lower optimised one and maybe a small tube optimised one. I need to work on how the brass threaded insert goes in, ill make a small brass adaptor for a soldering iron to do the heating part and see how we go...



Ive been working on a jig to make the brass barrel bolts for the G-funks, too....

[Al]

John do the bar clamps have enough flex to slip them onto the bat without stripping all the bar tape / levers / etc off first to slide the on?

so these came through from the 3D printer - im calling them G-funk's - 31.8mm clamps that will take a 35-40mm M5 bolt and will therefore hold a bottle cage, Strap Deck or anything else to your handlebars (or anything else that can be shimmed to 31.8mm)



the other part, called a Barnacle, is a stick and or zip tie on M5 boss, put them anywhere - im collecting data and will offer 3 shapes, flat backed for carbon or very big diameter tubes, a downtube/fork lower optimised one and maybe a small tube optimised one. I need to work on how the brass threaded insert goes in, ill make a small brass adaptor for a soldering iron to do the heating part and see how we go...



Ive been working on a jig to make the brass barrel bolts for the G-funks, too....

[whitestone]

Yes they do. I fitted a set and a strap deck yesterday. The plastic is quite flexible, just push against the bar and they'll click into place. There's a video linked from the Wildcat site on how to fit them, it's on DrJon's blog.