![]() What about screwing in an old style stop like this on the left? I just drill and tap an appropriate size hole in the frame.
Then I came across these on the right. More modern design, available in silver or black. Ordered it in black, I can always repaint it in red later. And instead of just drill and tap the frame for the screw mounts, I came across RJ The Bike Guy's video where he uses rivnuts (or rivet nuts) to mount a water bottle bracket to a bike frame. But I could also use pop rivets to mount this cable stop. |
And a final upgrade was to replace the standard Avenir (same brand as the saddle) handgrips with something more comfortable. When I was buying my new handlebar, I saw that my bike shop had a selection of Ergon grips. After a bit of research on Ergon's website, decided to get the GP1. They have a nice Grip Selector to help tailor the choices for Mountain, Touring, Urban and Fitness bikes!
Oops! I installed them backwards! Still nice and comfortable on my first ride! I'll swap them, very easy to install and remove. |
Laying out the other side was a challenge. I used the graphic to help lay out the new guide.
Viewed from the bottom, the alignment looks pretty close. Since the original guide is painted, I painted the new one. Right now, the color is not an exact match. But I can always repaint when I find a better matching color. |
Now that all my parts are in, time to assemble. Borrowed my brother's bike stand to do this. First, drill out and cut the channel where the cable enters and leaves the frame.
I removed the original guide so that I could measure and layout the new guide in the same place. Started with small pilot holes then drilled larger and final size. Ground out the middle and finished with a file. |
Here is the shifter finally installed. I added a piece of inner tube between the clamp and frame to protect the paint. I had to use pliers to squeeze the clamp together in order to get the clamp bolt to engage!
It took a lot of adjusting, but I finally got it done! There were a couple of issues that I had to overcome. The first was my fender interfering with the cage when it was on the innermost gear. With bit of adjusting (using some padding and an assortment of prying tools) I was able to move the lower edge of the fender in enough without rubbing the tire. You can see the clear gap between the fender and frame. |