Storck Hacking
My Storck Visioner has been hanging from the garage ceiling since April, when the flaws in its design/construction eventually overcame my enthusiasm for the project. The half-finished project was a testament to my short attention span.. It wasn't a pretty sight, and one I avoided unless I happened to bang my head against the fork as I walked under it. Right before I left for the East Coast, I decided to do something about the eyesore.
The issue that caused me to fling 4mm allen wrenches about the garage was the internal cable grommets. The rubber ones had to be installed before you ran the rubber cable, and I destroyed one before I realized that greasing the cable housing before feeding it through prevented the grommet from ripping. Even lubing the cable wasn't enough to keep them alive while I was sorting out the cable issues around the bottom bracket.
The plastic ones are slightly more durable, but one fell on the floor and promptly cracked when I stepped on it. Even in the best of circumstances, they're not easy to clip in place, and have to be removed/installed every time the cable is changed. For my rain/commuter bikes, this task is done annually, and the plastic would have died long before the rest of the frame.
Of course, these grommets aren't something you can just run down to the local hardware store and pick up. In fact, Competitive Cyclist was going to have to order them for me from Storck, since I could not buy them directly. Unacceptable.
My '08 Trek Madone has internal cable routing that actually works for me. The grommets are aluminum and easily removed. Looking at them got me thinking, which is always a dangerous thing. Since I had already had hacked the frame to route the rear derailleur cable, I had little to lose with further modification. I went to my local Trek dealer and ordered a couple different vintages of their frame small parts kits and decided to see if I could make something work.
Turns out, with a little bit of drilling/grinding/tapping, I could.
It actually turned out fairly clean, and it seals the frame better than the original grommets ever could. More importantly, it won't explode when subjected to direct sunlight.
I should finish up the build by the end of the week. Then I should have plenty of time for:
Not likely.
The issue that caused me to fling 4mm allen wrenches about the garage was the internal cable grommets. The rubber ones had to be installed before you ran the rubber cable, and I destroyed one before I realized that greasing the cable housing before feeding it through prevented the grommet from ripping. Even lubing the cable wasn't enough to keep them alive while I was sorting out the cable issues around the bottom bracket.
The plastic ones are slightly more durable, but one fell on the floor and promptly cracked when I stepped on it. Even in the best of circumstances, they're not easy to clip in place, and have to be removed/installed every time the cable is changed. For my rain/commuter bikes, this task is done annually, and the plastic would have died long before the rest of the frame.
Of course, these grommets aren't something you can just run down to the local hardware store and pick up. In fact, Competitive Cyclist was going to have to order them for me from Storck, since I could not buy them directly. Unacceptable.
My '08 Trek Madone has internal cable routing that actually works for me. The grommets are aluminum and easily removed. Looking at them got me thinking, which is always a dangerous thing. Since I had already had hacked the frame to route the rear derailleur cable, I had little to lose with further modification. I went to my local Trek dealer and ordered a couple different vintages of their frame small parts kits and decided to see if I could make something work.
Turns out, with a little bit of drilling/grinding/tapping, I could.
It actually turned out fairly clean, and it seals the frame better than the original grommets ever could. More importantly, it won't explode when subjected to direct sunlight.
I should finish up the build by the end of the week. Then I should have plenty of time for:
- Tearing down the TT bike and installing a completely new groupset. I haven't replaced as much as a brake cable on it since I bought it back in '08. Since it only gets used a handful of times a year, I guess that's somewhat understandable, but I think it's due.
- Tearing down the Cannondale System Six and rebuilding it for sale. If the Storck takes over rain/commuter duties, I can't exactly justify having a backup bike to the backup bike. Plus, I'm tripping over bikes as it is.
- Building up my Ridley Orion for sale. As dependable as it's been over the years, I just haven't ridden it since I was freed from the trainer this spring. There was a time I drooled all over the bike. Now it's time for someone else to show it the love it deserves, since I'm obviously a faithless bike hussy.
- Doing something with the Madone frame I picked up in flurry of ill-advised consumerism. I'm not sure what I was thinking there, since I already have two.
- Maybe finish gluing up some tubulars.
Not likely.
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