Hypercracker, Stein, Unior for cassette removal

[Mark_Hoagy]

Anyone willing to share their thoughts about the inexpensive Unior for
roadside cassette removal, found below, since I'm considering the
purchase & could use some positive comments?

Since the original Pamir "Hypercracker" went out of production a couple
of years ago, there has been no small, portable tool available that
would allow on-the-road cassette removal.
Such a tool is of vital importance to the touring cyclist, because it's
the only way to be able to replace a broken spoke on the right side of
the rear wheel, the most common spot for spokes to break.
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/cassette.html

[Mark Boyd]

It looks a lot like a hypercracker and should work just like one. The spoke wrench bit is clever and useful.

Harris is a very good place which I've bought stuff from them several times over the years and would certainly buy from them again.

             Mark

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[Andy Goodell]

I think the Fiber Fix spoke makes these obsolete. It's a much smaller and lighter item to carry.

On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 9:16 PM, Mark_Hoagy <ho...@nelson-tel.net> wrote:

[Mark_Hoagy]

Why don't I fix it with a metal spoke the first time rather then twice?

On 4/16/2013 11:50 PM, Andy Goodell wrote:
> I think the Fiber Fix spoke makes these obsolete. It's a much smaller
> and lighter item to carry.
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 9:16 PM, Mark_Hoagy <ho...@nelson-tel.net
> <mailto:ho...@nelson-tel.net>> wrote:
>
> Anyone willing to share their thoughts about the inexpensive Unior
> for roadside cassette removal, found below, since I'm considering
> the purchase & could use some positive comments?
>
> Since the original Pamir "Hypercracker" went out of
> production a couple of years ago, there has been no small, portable
> tool available that would allow on-the-road cassette removal.
> Such a tool is of vital importance to the touring cyclist,
> because it's the only way to be able to replace a broken spoke on
> the right side of the rear wheel, the most common spot for spokes to
> break.

> http://sheldonbrown.com/__harris/tools/cassette.html

[Neil Schneider]

> I think the Fiber Fix spoke makes these obsolete. It's a much smaller and
> lighter item to carry.
>

The Fiber Fix spoke is a temporary fix. These tools are for replacing and
actual spoke.

--
--
Neil Schneider velorambler over-at gmail dot com
http://www.velorambler.com

__o
_'\<,_
(*)/ (*)

"Work to eat, eat to live, live to bike, bike to work." -- Naomi Bloom

[Ian A]

This has come up before, but my method is to only screw the lock ring on a couple of clicks or so.  If it comes loose, the cassette moves around and no harm done, nothing gets lost.

I carried a 6' adjustable wrench and a cassette tool and some webbing (was actually a strap that performed double duty keeping tent and mat attached to the top of the rack).  I tied off the strap to the rim of the wheel and wound it around the cassette in the same direction you'd use a chain whip.  Works like a charm if you don't overtighten lock ring.  Use the wrench and cassette tool in the normal fashion.  

I had square taper cranks, so the 6" wrench could also be used for removing the crankset and pedals etc.  A 4" adj. wrench s much too small, but there are lightweight 6" wrenches to be found.  I found the usefulness of the wrench make it worth carrying.  I broke a number of spokes using 700c wheels under quite a large load.  YMMV.

Hypercracker is a nice tool, but if the lock ring is tight, it doesn't work well.  Can damage the frame in the wrong circumstances.  I just preferred to have the right tools - helped out another cyclist with the webbing set-up.  He was amazed!

[Mark Boyd]

While touring, I've carried both a hypercracker and a fiber fix 'spoke' for more than a decade and used the hypercracker but not the fiber fix. They have different uses and it is not redundant to carry both, but if I were only to carry only one, it would be the hypercracker because it is more useful. I've even used the hypercracker at home instead of getting out the other tools required to remove a cassette. As Ian A suggests, I don't over tighten the cassette lock rings and I've only once had a lock ring loosen on the road. I used the hypercracker to tighten it.

             Mark

On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 9:01 AM, <hpvluve...@aol.com> wrote:

Mark, I "think" the idea of the fiber fix is that you don't  have to remove your wheel. Just bend the spoke and  attach the fiber fix repair kit until it can be fixed properly.I carry one but never used it. Hope I never have to figure it out. Adventure cycling sells them for about $10.

Fran,

 

Be who you are and say what you feel........

Because those that matter dont mind.....

And those that mind don't matter.   Anon

[Andy Goodell]

On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 9:01 AM, <hpvluve...@aol.com> wrote:

Mark, I "think" the idea of the fiber fix is that you don't  have to remove your wheel. Just bend the spoke and  attach the fiber fix repair kit until it can be fixed properly.

Exactly. I don't like to carry tools with one purpose and a very rare chance that I would need to use it. I've never needed to remove a cassette on the road in 20k+ miles of ridding, so I'm not going to carry a tool to do that. I have broken a spoke before, and so I find that this cheap tiny "spoke" is lighter, smaller and cheaper than carrying a hypercracker and a spare spoke. I mostly bought it for non-touring use anyway, since on my go-fast bike with fewer spokes, it may not be rideable if one spoke breaks.

When I carried spare spokes on previous tours, I had to bring 3 as my dynohub uses short ones, and my drive/non-drive side rear are different lengths too. With the Fiber Fix, I just carry one for the two of us.

In theory it's only a temporary fix aesthetically. A fiber fix should be just as good at holding tension when properly used, even if it doesn't look like the others on there. If I had to use it on a weeklong  tour, I likely wouldn't go far out of my way to try to get it permanently fixed.

[hpvluve...@aol.com]

Mark, I "think" the idea of the fiber fix is that you don't  have to remove your wheel. Just bend the spoke and  attach the fiber fix repair kit until it can be fixed properly.I carry one but never used it. Hope I never have to figure it out. Adventure cycling sells them for about $10.

Fran,

 

Be who you are and say what you feel........

Because those that matter dont mind.....

And those that mind don't matter.   Anon

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark_Hoagy <ho...@nelson-tel.net>
To: bicycletouring <bicycle...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 17, 2013 1:36 am
Subject: Re: [touring] Hypercracker, Stein, Unior for cassette removal

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[Mark Boyd]

The tool we are talking about weighs about an ounce and has two useful functions - cassette removal tool and spoke wrench. If you are the type of tourist who would replace a spoke and true a wheel yourself at home, as opposed to having a bike shop do it for you, I think it is well worth carrying.

             Mark

PS I just noticed that my, well used ;-}, hypercracker can also act as a spoke wrench.   

[Bryan Lorber]

My solution: Well built, robust wheels designed for heavy weight and abuse. They may not be within everybody's price point but they allow for trouble free travel with no broken spokes and wheels that remain true. 

Bryan

Barrington, RI

On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 9:29 AM, Andy Goodell <geekg...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Andy Goodell]

Well, yeah, that's a good starting point, but spokes can still break on the best wheels, which I think justifies a 1oz insurance plan that covers myself and anyone else I ride with no matter their wheel size.

FWIW, I love the Mavic a719 wheels I built up on very limited experience (2nd and 3rd built) and have yet to break a spoke on them or need truing.

[Mark Boyd]

That is part of my solution too. The only broken spoke I've had in a decade was the end result of a chain shifting into the spokes because the derailleur had been bent in shipping and I didn't notice that until the chain shifted in off the biggest cog while climbing a steep hill. A spoke broke 1000 miles later.The stub of that spoke them pivoted into the cogs and ended up causing the freewheel to start slipping. 

Well built wheels are important, but they can still get damaged and need cassette removal and spoke replacement.

             Mark

On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 10:21 AM, Bryan Lorber <bryl...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Kim Waggoner (Home)]

I've only broken one spoke on my front wheel a couple+ years ago on a group ride. This was on my then new LHT. Since then I've rebuilt the wheels a couple times when the rims crack. I've used the same (stock) spokes. I put the rims side by side and transfer the right spokes then the left spokes to the new rim. Afterward I adjust the spoke tension with a Park Tension meter, then true the wheel on the bike mounted on the Park Bike Maintenance stand, using my index finger against  the brake pad as a guide.

kw.

--
Sent from this here computer.

[Chuck Davis]

With either, the lock ring should be "loosened" and re tightened to a lesser decree than usual

 

I'm in the process phasing out/down my little shoppe and can ship a Unior the $1 over the Harris price  (CONUS)

 

Have the Stein also (inquire $)

--

Chuck Davis

 

The shoppe is at:

 

OK Velo Sales (Okv...@gmail.com)

1408 E 11th ST

Tulsa, OK 74120

 

918-587-0574 Shoppe TP/FX)

 

Davis...@gmail.com for the serious stuff

 

 

918-895-0733 (Magic Jack 2nd Message TPN)

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark_Hoagy]

Thank you for your responses and I'll order a Unior for my tool kit for
my three bikes and for helping others along the way. Couldn't find a
video about the FiberFix spoke since I'd like to see one installed.

[Henrik V. Risager]

I'm lucky to have a Hypercrasker but have never ever used it. Even
when I managed to break 10 spokes on our last tour around the world,
since all broke on the non drive side. I know that it does not fit
very well when you have a HOPE rear hub only found out when I tested
the hypercracker for this blog post
http://www.woollypigs.com/2011/10/meet-the-hypercracker/

What about NBT2 aka the Next Best Thing II
http://www.m-gineering.nl/nbtg.htm you can still get it
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b88s0p0

There is also a couple of DIY ideas if you click over to my blog.

woollypigs

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[M-gineering]

On 5/4/2013 4:48 PM, Henrik V. Risager wrote:
>
> What about NBT2 aka the Next Best Thing II
> http://www.m-gineering.nl/nbtg.htm you can still get it
> http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b88s0p0
>

The NBT2 is available in the Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, Australia etc
and can be shipped to just anywhere on the world, just not the USA as my
liability insurance makes a firm exception ;)

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mvg

Marten Gerritsen

www.m-gineering.nl