Dyno Refresh: Platypus Edition

[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

I love my shop for many reasons but I give them 5 demerits for their dyno expertise. They assembled my Platypus in January 2022 and it was never strung up attractively, and then the rear light started shorting out, and then I paid for them to fix it a few times and then I gave up. I called Analog.

Analog said send them the lights. They had to do extensive rewiring AND I had to get a new coaxial box because that was all corroded. I have no idea how I managed that after only one year, but we all have our talents.

The lights came back to me today and I feel like the way I strung the wires looks pretty great, but we will have to see if function is as good as form. I have never, ever messed with dyno before, but I took photos of the bike from before and tried not to make it worse.

Photos coming in the next post…

Leah

[Leah Peterson]



Here is the “before.” Droopy wires, lots of extra wire, the fork was wrapped unattractively in wire, and it just wasn’t an ideal setup. Also, the rear light had shorted out. I was living with the rest of the mess, but when the light went out, I had to do something.

Ok, that was then, this is now. Remember, I know the light/fender are not quite right, but I’ll remedy that tomorrow. And, if anyone sees anything wrong with what I did, speak up.

I might switch out the colored zip ties for gray. What do you all think?

On Jul 28, 2023, at 6:01 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

I love my shop for many reasons but I give them 5 demerits for their dyno expertise. They assembled my Platypus in January 2022 and it was never strung up attractively, and then the rear light started shorting out, and then I paid for them to fix it a few times and then I gave up. I called Analog.

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/rL2hBnalGTU/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a092bd99-5937-412f-a3f1-c36b65e328fan%40googlegroups.com.

On Jul 28, 2023, at 6:01 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> wrote:

I love my shop for many reasons but I give them 5 demerits for their dyno expertise. They assembled my Platypus in January 2022 and it was never strung up attractively, and then the rear light started shorting out, and then I paid for them to fix it a few times and then I gave up. I called Analog.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/rL2hBnalGTU/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a092bd99-5937-412f-a3f1-c36b65e328fan%40googlegroups.com.

[Patrick Moore]

This is not directly related to Leah's post/query/complaint/solution, but others who are looking for quick and easy dyno wire guide solutions and hire a builder might be interested.

When Chauncey built my "road bike for dirt" -- now handling so much more like my Rivendell road bikes with (360 gram) 50 mm Soma Supple Vitesse SLs replacing the (450 gram) 60 mm ultralight Big ones -- I asked him to find a tidy way to organize the wires a K-Lite headlight system. With the K-Lite system (at least, those of the ~2016 vintage), you buy the system with permanent, in-place wiring between dynamo plug and headlamp.

He installed these along the backside of the right fork leg -- the rest goes inside the frame and rack tubes. Very tidy, super-quick wire installation along fork leg, effective -- wire does not come loose.

FWIW YMMV etc and so on.

[rlti...@gmail.com]

My new Mod-Zero fork has dyno light cable retention tabs built onto it which should make the wire management cleaner. I was never a fan of wrapping the wire around the fork leg. Another bike of mine has internal routing for the wires which is also pretty clean.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 28, 2023, at 8:10 PM, Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:



<image.png>

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtp9z%2Bxrb3QyPK2em9%3DpO0MdBU85oXRb35ntzxwi41bsw%40mail.gmail.com.

[vernon brooks]

I use a piece of clear packing tape on the inside of fork blade with a single zip tie near the dropout. If it ever needs replacing a little lighter fluid cleans up the goop without damaging paint. Keeps everything in place nicely and looks really clean.

Vern in San Francisco

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/B12C9321-9ACF-4C22-B98C-73AF763B43DD%40gmail.com.

[Joe Bernard]

Much cleaner looking now! 

I vote for grey zipties, I think the brightly colored ones are too much HEY THERE'S ZIPTIES HERE. 

[Hetchins52]

Very clean job, Leah! Impressive work!

Make sure that you can turn the fork fully left and right without stressing the wires that connect to the front light.

Agree with you and Joe that grey will call less attention to the wiring and blend in with the rack a bit.

David Lipsky

[Dorothy C]

Those look nice Leah. The only thing I would do differently is to zip tie to the downtube, leaving the shifter cable free. I think that it what I am seeing. My Cheviot and Appa have the Kasai dynamos and IQX lights and I do the wrap a few times round the fork thing to give some slack if I ever want to move the lights to a different bike. The Cheviot is a 55cm, so plenty big enough, but my Appa that I bought first is a 47cm with 26” wheels. I am 81 pbh and 5’6” tall for reference. No plans to swap it out yet, but you never know what temptations Rivendell are going to come out with. 😀

On Friday, July 28, 2023 at 3:01:01 PM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:

[Leah Peterson]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I do have some questions I hope you can answer.

1. I got the light/fender aligned. But it’s fussy. I had to try it several different ways. The challenges are that the fender would be off-center and nearly rubbing the tire on the drive side, or the headlight mount would interfere with the headset cup. I rearranged the spacers; there is now one behind the mount and one on top of it. In the end, after a lot of trial and error, I found that I can get all pieces aligned but I cannot tighten the bolt all the way or else that darn fender jumps to the side and lays on the tire. See here:

The bolt is pretty snug, but if the bike tipped, I think the headlight mount would be knocked out of alignment, which may actually be a good thing. 

Is it ok to be riding around with that connection not completely tight? 

2. Dorothy: Why would you not zip tie to the cable? Both my Platys are set up this way (maybe my Clem, too but I forget) and I’ve never had an issue. But if it’s dangerous, please tell me! 

And yes, David,  I checked to see that I have enough dyno wire when I turn the bars either way! ☺️

I ordered light gray zip ties and will swap out the colored ones for the gray when they arrive. Here’s the current alignment:

Thanks in advance!

Leah

On Jul 29, 2023, at 3:24 AM, 'Hetchins52' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/rL2hBnalGTU/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b81c7832-b3d6-42c8-ab45-44301f6f6623n%40googlegroups.com.

[Dorothy C]

I installed my dyno myself, so I don’t know how it is usually routed to the back, I just thought it might get fiddly to change shifter cables, and also that the back and forth motion might rub the rear light housing. My IQX lights have the cables and housing integral to the front light body, I think, so they aren’t easy to swap out if they get damaged. 

On Friday, July 28, 2023 at 3:01:01 PM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote:

[Luke Hendrickson]

I’m personally a fan of zip ties securing the rear dyno light cable to the downtube on my Riv. And for much the same reason as Dorothy: ease of at-home maintenance is greatly increased and the dyno cable will be stationary rather than move with each shift (however small).

[Jason Fuller]

that looks very good Leah!  i haven't done cleaner myself.  it looks like you left enough slack at all the spots where you need it (ie for full "lock to lock" steering and such).  tail light wiring is a pain, there's really no perfect answer. Bikes that have full-length housing have it pretty easy, you can electrical tape to the housing and the wire becomes nearly invisible. I have thought of trying a long length of heat shrink along the exposed downtube cable that i could stick the wire in with the derailer cable.. not sure if there's longterm concerns with chafing.