Back in the saddle - Litespeed T6
Moderators: MrCurrieinahurry, maxim809, Moderator Team
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I really like the look of a sanded down fork and I'm considering it with mine. My T2 will come with the standard Litespeed carbon fork so depending on how heavy it is (gonna guess its no lightweight) I may eventually go with the 3T LTD or similar (Evo etc.).
Did you get yours new or used? It seems like a lot of prices on eBay are actually more expensive than buying from an online retailer.
Could you give me a brief rundown of your sanding method and grit size please?
Did you get yours new or used? It seems like a lot of prices on eBay are actually more expensive than buying from an online retailer.
Could you give me a brief rundown of your sanding method and grit size please?
Bought my fork new. Ebay was a couple hundred bucks more, go figure. If you can find the Evo fork on Ebay, it's not a bad option, and likely 10-15 grams lighter, judging by the one @godzuki26 has. Think that one is closer to 240 grams, whereas I'm sitting at 260 exactly right now.
I'm just wet sanding with 400 grit. Strapping the paper to the smallest 3m sandblaster I could find for the legs, then hand sanding sans tool the crown area. The legs sand quickly even with 400 grit, since it's about a 4 inch strip of paper. The crown is taking forever. In hindsight, I should have gone with 200 for the initial sanding, then switched to 400, but I'm close enough to the surface now that I'm sticking with 400.
I also took off most of the lawyer tabs, because lawyer tabs are dumb and annoying. Why put lawyer tabs on a fork when rear drops outs don't have them??? Makes no sense.
I'll eventually spray it with a UV filtering matte clearcoat. That'll match the bars and seatpost fairly well.
I'm just wet sanding with 400 grit. Strapping the paper to the smallest 3m sandblaster I could find for the legs, then hand sanding sans tool the crown area. The legs sand quickly even with 400 grit, since it's about a 4 inch strip of paper. The crown is taking forever. In hindsight, I should have gone with 200 for the initial sanding, then switched to 400, but I'm close enough to the surface now that I'm sticking with 400.
I also took off most of the lawyer tabs, because lawyer tabs are dumb and annoying. Why put lawyer tabs on a fork when rear drops outs don't have them??? Makes no sense.
I'll eventually spray it with a UV filtering matte clearcoat. That'll match the bars and seatpost fairly well.
I think that the rationale was that a front wheel dropping out is 100% guaranteed to be a catastrophic outcome, whereas a rear wheel dropping out is less so. As well as that, braking forces on a front wheel push the axel backward in the dropout (toward the opening on the fork end), but on the rear wheel braking force pushes the wheel further up into the dropout.
All that said, correctly tightening your QR skewers will eliminate all risk - so have at it!
@rlpaul thanks for the info. Much appreciated.
I've been lurking on eBay for the last few weeks and nothing has really come up. An evo hi-mod fork would be nice but there aren't many around and they ain't cheap. I think my best bet would be a new 3T LTD. Although having said that, it's pretty low down on the list of things to buy.
Any ideas of what brand you will go with for the UV clear coat? It's difficult finding the right products here in Japan.
I've been lurking on eBay for the last few weeks and nothing has really come up. An evo hi-mod fork would be nice but there aren't many around and they ain't cheap. I think my best bet would be a new 3T LTD. Although having said that, it's pretty low down on the list of things to buy.
Any ideas of what brand you will go with for the UV clear coat? It's difficult finding the right products here in Japan.
Since I don't have a sprayer or access to one, I'll probably go with Eastwood 2k aerosol. 2k poly has the hardeners in it that help protect against UV, and Eastwood seems to be well regarded. It's not cheap, but then neither is the fork...
Any 2k poly should work though - as I understand it, 2k poly by definition has UV protection.
Any 2k poly should work though - as I understand it, 2k poly by definition has UV protection.
Finally rebuilding my rear wheel to start moving towards 11 speed. I've never been a fan of the DT240s in terms of bracing angle, so Carbon-Ti hub enroute, along with spokes and nipples.
Put my climbing wheels on the other day, drops a full 500 grams off the weight. Didn't get a photo, or a ride on them though - derailleur is hitting the spokes. Had built the DS heads in ages ago, and on this frame can't get quite enough clearance. Hanger appears straight, so I'll be relacing this wheel. I'm eventually going to replace the whole wheelset though - these are old rims, only 20-21mm wide. Once my 23c tires wear out, I'll resign them to trainer duty and cheap tires. I really should buy a direct drive trainer one of these days...
Put my climbing wheels on the other day, drops a full 500 grams off the weight. Didn't get a photo, or a ride on them though - derailleur is hitting the spokes. Had built the DS heads in ages ago, and on this frame can't get quite enough clearance. Hanger appears straight, so I'll be relacing this wheel. I'm eventually going to replace the whole wheelset though - these are old rims, only 20-21mm wide. Once my 23c tires wear out, I'll resign them to trainer duty and cheap tires. I really should buy a direct drive trainer one of these days...
Finished rebuild of the rear wheel a while ago, but been sick. So, here's a quick synopsis:
Hub came in 2 grams under weight.
Don't have a photo handy, but the rear rim was over 500 grams. Enve advertised 480. Still pretty good for a 70x25ish mm rim. Not many 70 rims out there, and I can't find the weight of the Bontrager 7, but the Trek wheelset is heavier than the stock Enve 6.7 with two fewer spokes, but a deeper front. FWIW Farsports lists their 60x25 tubular at 470 grams.
Here's wheel weight with tire mounted with the DT 240:
And the rebuilt wheel with tire:
Solid 51 gram reduction. The 54 tooth engagement feels really nice in the stand, looking forward to riding. Getting some tropical storm rain right now, so that'll have to wait until the weekend.
The Carbon-Ti hub was super easy to work with. Took me all of 30 seconds to figure out, and then pull the axle, so I could get the NDS laced. I'll rebuild the front wheel at some point with the matching front hub. That'll save me another 40 or so grams.
And yeesh, I really need to clean up my 'work area' in the basement...
Hub came in 2 grams under weight.
Don't have a photo handy, but the rear rim was over 500 grams. Enve advertised 480. Still pretty good for a 70x25ish mm rim. Not many 70 rims out there, and I can't find the weight of the Bontrager 7, but the Trek wheelset is heavier than the stock Enve 6.7 with two fewer spokes, but a deeper front. FWIW Farsports lists their 60x25 tubular at 470 grams.
Here's wheel weight with tire mounted with the DT 240:
And the rebuilt wheel with tire:
Solid 51 gram reduction. The 54 tooth engagement feels really nice in the stand, looking forward to riding. Getting some tropical storm rain right now, so that'll have to wait until the weekend.
The Carbon-Ti hub was super easy to work with. Took me all of 30 seconds to figure out, and then pull the axle, so I could get the NDS laced. I'll rebuild the front wheel at some point with the matching front hub. That'll save me another 40 or so grams.
And yeesh, I really need to clean up my 'work area' in the basement...
Looks the same with the rebuilt wheel, black hub with black spokes laced to the same rim as before. But straight-pull instead of j-bend. I'll try to get some photos this week.
Climbing wheel is relaced so I can actually use it again. Right now waiting on glue to cure on my tubular, so I should be able to put something together later this week in that regard as well.
My climbing tubs are old enough that they're built on a Tune 180 hub... which, IIRC, doesn't have an 11 speed freehub option. I'm going to build a whole new wheelset to replace the climbing tubs sometime this winter, get rid of the old 20mm wide rim, and go with a more modern 23 or 25mm wide rim. Current tubs are about 985 grams, new ones will hopefully come in under 1000, possibly as low as 940. Haven't nailed down exactly what's going into the wheel build yet.
Managed a short ride on Sunday. I stopped noticing the shorter engagement after about 5 minutes, but it's a nice to have feature.
Climbing wheel is relaced so I can actually use it again. Right now waiting on glue to cure on my tubular, so I should be able to put something together later this week in that regard as well.
My climbing tubs are old enough that they're built on a Tune 180 hub... which, IIRC, doesn't have an 11 speed freehub option. I'm going to build a whole new wheelset to replace the climbing tubs sometime this winter, get rid of the old 20mm wide rim, and go with a more modern 23 or 25mm wide rim. Current tubs are about 985 grams, new ones will hopefully come in under 1000, possibly as low as 940. Haven't nailed down exactly what's going into the wheel build yet.
Managed a short ride on Sunday. I stopped noticing the shorter engagement after about 5 minutes, but it's a nice to have feature.
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