xilvar
1 µW
Hello folks!
I just put together a tsdz2 bike based on an old 2002 litespeed unicoi (soft tail titanium bike) and got everything working last night.
As people likely know, as a soft tail the unicoi is similar to a moots ybb and it flexes somewhere along the chain stay for its rear ‘suspension’ with only about an inch of travel at most.
The tsdz2 has a sort of t shaped fixing block which is attached above the chain stays and clamps to a lower fixing block. Both parts of the fixing block place the chain stays under pressure and seem to primarily apply pressure on one edge rather than their flats.
Although the unicoi is far from pristine I’d prefer to avoid damaging the frame of course. So I ended up applying a couple layers of electrical tape and fiberglass reinforced tape to the various friction surfaces of the fixing block parts in the hopes of avoiding abrasive wear and lessening pressure points.
It all seems to work ‘ok’ so far, but I’m worried about a couple things.
- the fixing block on top is naturally forced forwards into the angle between the seat tube and the chain stays. I’m concerned that when the suspension is flexing that the tubes might be trying to pinch an incompressible object (the top fixing block) and might crease there eventually.
- both parts of the fixing block rub slightly on the chain stays even on a hard tail bike, so that might be worsened on this soft tail. Any ideas on something better than the layers of tape to help avoid wear?
If it seems like a terrible idea to keep it this way I could Also do what true rear suspension bikes usually do and allow the motor to just rotate forward and place a piece of hard rubber or something like that between its shell and the downtube. The downside being pressure on a single tube (rather than double) in a place definitely not intended to have pressure.
Anyone have any thoughts on the best approach?
I just put together a tsdz2 bike based on an old 2002 litespeed unicoi (soft tail titanium bike) and got everything working last night.
As people likely know, as a soft tail the unicoi is similar to a moots ybb and it flexes somewhere along the chain stay for its rear ‘suspension’ with only about an inch of travel at most.
The tsdz2 has a sort of t shaped fixing block which is attached above the chain stays and clamps to a lower fixing block. Both parts of the fixing block place the chain stays under pressure and seem to primarily apply pressure on one edge rather than their flats.
Although the unicoi is far from pristine I’d prefer to avoid damaging the frame of course. So I ended up applying a couple layers of electrical tape and fiberglass reinforced tape to the various friction surfaces of the fixing block parts in the hopes of avoiding abrasive wear and lessening pressure points.
It all seems to work ‘ok’ so far, but I’m worried about a couple things.
- the fixing block on top is naturally forced forwards into the angle between the seat tube and the chain stays. I’m concerned that when the suspension is flexing that the tubes might be trying to pinch an incompressible object (the top fixing block) and might crease there eventually.
- both parts of the fixing block rub slightly on the chain stays even on a hard tail bike, so that might be worsened on this soft tail. Any ideas on something better than the layers of tape to help avoid wear?
If it seems like a terrible idea to keep it this way I could Also do what true rear suspension bikes usually do and allow the motor to just rotate forward and place a piece of hard rubber or something like that between its shell and the downtube. The downside being pressure on a single tube (rather than double) in a place definitely not intended to have pressure.
Anyone have any thoughts on the best approach?
