K2 / Proflex Riders Group

General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: Simon on March 24, 2005, 07:13:12 am

Title: Polished
Post by: Simon on March 24, 2005, 07:13:12 am

Just finished polishing my 856 project,took me ages,used autosolve with a buffing mop on a power drill,hasn't come up to bad,
as you can see the new swinglinks I've made are now fitted (amazing what you can make with a saw, files and a drill)plus the modded strut,just got to get it lacquered to prevent any oxidation,also need to source some decals,the s/arm pivot is already prepared for the sealed bearings and a new throughshaft made,I haven't fitted it yet as I'll use the bearings from my 4500.
What do you think so far ???
run out of funds to finish off (need a b/b, front mech etc,the rest I can transfer from my 4500) I'll just have to wait abit longer :(
Simon.
(http://idriders.com/proflex/galleries/Simon/PHTOpolished1.jpg)
(http://idriders.com/proflex/galleries/Simon/PHTOpolished2.jpg)

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Carbon_Angus on March 24, 2005, 07:27:12 am

Simon....the swing link is really only an adapter for the air shock???

Do you think it will modify any characteristics regarding the performance?

Can you adjust the postion of the shock (bottom) with your adapter...looks like it...?

Looks good as always

[smiley=beer.gif]

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Simon on March 24, 2005, 09:09:19 am

Quote

Simon....the swing link is really only an adapter for the air shock???

Do you think it will modify any characteristics regarding the performance?

Can you adjust the postion of the shock (bottom) with your adapter...looks like it...?

Looks good as always

[smiley=beer.gif]

Hi Carboangus,thanks for your comments  :P
The swinglink enables the shock to be compressed without any other stresses applied to it other than compression forces,also it applies a different compression ratio allowing more wheel travel with less shock stroke,don't ask me the calculated ratio because I don't know it,the deciding factors on positoning and lenghts etc were largely set by the frame design and what I could make fit,
yes I hope that it does modify some of the 856 characteristics in so much as improving the rear suspension action (eg smoother and more travel) plus your no longer limited to the rear shock you can use,I'm hoping the sprinting and climbing abilities are unaffected by this conversion,it was a great climber,
I know it does look like the swinglink is adjustable and I did toy with the idea but that hole is only there to lighten things up abit,I can't bring the strut any closer to the shock it will foul the shock body on full compression.
Simon.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: kiwi on March 24, 2005, 09:28:59 am

sheesh the wheel must be close to the outboard end of the link!!!!.Simon it looks awesome!Did you take the shock bolt out before polishing,or is it either a shadow or greasy finger marks....?

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Simon on March 24, 2005, 09:36:30 am

Quote

sheesh the wheel must be close to the outboard end of the link!!!!.Simon it looks awesome!Did you take the shock bolt out before polishing,or is it either a shadow or greasy finger marks....?

Hi Kiwi, believe it or not there is more wheel clearance within the strut than found on a standard 856,good for our muddy UK conditions,
I polished the frame s/arm etc seperatly,hence the greasey marks at the shock bolt area after re-assembly,its not perfect yet still some hand polishing to do,its an old used frame so I wont be able to polish out every mark but its come up better than I expected.
Simon.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: shovelon on March 24, 2005, 11:26:46 am

Elegant, yet so simple in it's design.  

Did you have to remove paint? It really comes alive naked.

Terry

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Simon on March 24, 2005, 07:30:43 pm

Quote

Elegant, yet so simple in it's design.  

Did you have to remove paint? It really comes alive naked.

Terry

Hi Terry, [smiley=beer.gif]
Yes had to remove all the paint first,used a product called Nitromors,a universal paint and varnish remover,after this I removed awkward and stubbon paint with very fine reduction paper,it all took awhile but worth it.
Simon.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: tmaybee on March 24, 2005, 10:20:34 pm

That looks great Simon.  I can't wait to hear how it rides!

Cheers,
Trevor

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Kevins19 on March 24, 2005, 11:33:23 pm

My gosh! Thats beautiful! It reminds me of one of my  favorite bikes of all time. A Brooklyn Machine works Rcelink from Interbike...

http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?photo=Kevins19/BMW_Race_Link_002.jpg http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?photo=Kevins19/BMW_Race_Link_003.jpg

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Kevins19 on March 25, 2005, 01:05:55 am

Also, by orienting the shock more perpindicular to the suspension forces as well as braking forces during suspension travel... the bike should experience less brake jack. (not that that was ever a big prob. for these frames)

I think it will ride very nice!  [smiley=nod.gif]

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: dan_jones on March 31, 2005, 01:27:24 am

Hi Simon,

it looks very nice!

For the shock ratio (easy and crude), just let the air out, take a measurement from the drop out to the bench - compress the shock fully and re-take the measurement. We know the shock has a 35mm stroke, so divide this by the measurement we just taken - for example 100mm - this will give is a ratio of 2.85 to 1.
Fox's maximum recommended leverage ratio on this unit is 3:1

cheers

Dan

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Simon on March 31, 2005, 04:29:51 am

Ah its in bits again at the moment,its being lacquered,
I think its going to have around 5"ish of travel taken from past crude measurements,so that makes the ratio of approx 3.6 to 1,
will make a more accurate measurement when I start putting it back together.
either way can't change it now anyway [smiley=laughing.gif]
Simon.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: gfd on April 01, 2005, 03:37:20 am

nice.

only suggestion i'd make is to try smoothing out the welds with a grinder.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Kevins19 on April 01, 2005, 11:17:59 am

"only suggestion i'd make is to try smoothing out the welds with a grinder."

Heck no man! The welds look good.. IMHO.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: jinder on April 02, 2005, 06:02:39 am

NICE!

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Frankd3000 on April 02, 2005, 11:14:53 am

WOW Simon!! That's great! (applause)

Some Q's...

Did you try a few different link shapes (with regards to hole positioning) before you were happy? Or was it a "this'll work" kinda thing? I'm interested in how you determined what you have now.

That's really great work. I'm looking to do the same thing with my ride, in an attempt to get more versatility with the rear shock. The only difference is I don't have the aluminum-only swing-arm as you do (yes, I AM jealous!). I'll have to stick with the seat-stay (strut?) in it's original position where it mounts to the swing-arm.

(applause again)

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Simon on April 02, 2005, 11:47:30 pm

Hi Frankd3000,first welcome to the site.
To your Q's
Origionally my idea centred around using the swinglinks from the origional vector forks that came fitted to the 856 but these turned out to be too short(checkout the postings will and terry 856 update also help shock wanted),
I'd love to say this was all scientifically worked out  [smiley=laughing.gif]but I just mainly made differing templates untill I came up with what I think is the best solution,all this has been made a home with basic tools,hacksaw,files,powerdrill etc,you can checkout my gallery (Simon) for some of my other mad ideas I've carried out,
Simon.

Title: Re: Polished
Post by: Frankd3000 on April 03, 2005, 12:13:20 pm

VERY interesting. I'm very interested in hearing how it rides. Congrats!!!