I wanted to get the drop bars into that “hands up” position ♪
So I’m shaping up each of the temporary bikes one by one.
Now for the lever inspection ★
Since there’s no return spring, smooth operation is everything.
Holding it by itself, it won’t return under its own weight ★
The structure is nothing fancy—just a resin collar with a flange, a pin, and the lever.
The pin is fixed with a set screw.
The cause wasn’t rust or corrosion, lack of lubrication, or collar wear or deformation—
it was just poor fit between the lever and body.
When the U-shaped lever enters the E-shaped body, there was just a tiny bit of contact that was the problem ★
After adjusting, cleaning, and oiling, assembly made it smooth and snappy!
Spending nearly an hour on something like this is pretty discouraging though
The handlebar is a Nitto RB021 that I anodized to gunmetal—
but since it came with white (basically plain) anodizing originally, it needs stripping and re-anodizing,
which costs extra, so it’s faster to just grab one of the commonly available pre-anodized bars ★
And since I’m going aero again (cables routed through the handlebar), I had to drill holes.
I didn’t cheap out on the cable—went with soft Dura. (I wonder if there’s something even more flexible?)
I realized later that just drilling holes wasn’t enough…
So I made it a 6mm slot!
For the grip area I used a rainbow grip with heat shrink.
I just realized recently that at 1,050 yen it’s surprisingly expensive,
so maybe I’ll make one from leather?
Hoo-hoo
I did it on the mill, just clamped it casually in a hydraulic vise and cut ★
I wore a helmet while cutting because I was scared it might fly off.
It was work you don’t usually do on a bike, so it felt fresh.
