Wow what a journey! This sucker is done.........................................
well errrr ok not 100% but very very close. Just need a couple more tiny bolts since a few of the ones I ordered didn't work out (ok well one didn't work out and I accidentally ruined the other haha). Looks like it will be around the 145-150 gram mark once the finishing touches are done. Went for looks and durability over stupid light weight. Still how I managed to take 40 grams off of the normal weight of this derailleur is pretty nuts. Not bad for my first project.
So here is the master list:
-drilled out steel pivot pins. Tapped threads and replaced pins with aluminum screws.
-main derailleur body had some material shaved and drilled off. Polished to a mirror and painted gold.
-carbon upper hanger plate. Painted gold on one surface and re-cleared.
-aluminum upper hanger plate bolt. Polished gold anodizing off part of the surface and brought to a mirror, gold anodizing left on some surfaces.
-Token aluminum pulley wheels with ceramic bearings. Polished gold anodizing off of the surface and brought to a mirror. Gold anodizing left in cutouts.
-carbon short cage from Speedware. Painted gold except for the outwards facing surfaces (left raw carbon) and re-cleared.
-polished cage spring bolt
-polished main body spring
-all screws replaced with gold aluminum
-custom support stand fabricated from old shadow cage lol
What is left?
-lower hanger plate bolt (purchased in gold aluminum but didn't fit. Re-ordering in Ti)
-gold aluminum cable pinch bolt and polished cable sandwich plate, ruined the gold one I had trying to cut to size :-( .
-respray a few damaged areas and blemishes
-final polish of mirrored surfaces.
And now for the moment you've all been waiting for!
well errrr ok not 100% but very very close. Just need a couple more tiny bolts since a few of the ones I ordered didn't work out (ok well one didn't work out and I accidentally ruined the other haha). Looks like it will be around the 145-150 gram mark once the finishing touches are done. Went for looks and durability over stupid light weight. Still how I managed to take 40 grams off of the normal weight of this derailleur is pretty nuts. Not bad for my first project.
So here is the master list:
-drilled out steel pivot pins. Tapped threads and replaced pins with aluminum screws.
-main derailleur body had some material shaved and drilled off. Polished to a mirror and painted gold.
-carbon upper hanger plate. Painted gold on one surface and re-cleared.
-aluminum upper hanger plate bolt. Polished gold anodizing off part of the surface and brought to a mirror, gold anodizing left on some surfaces.
-Token aluminum pulley wheels with ceramic bearings. Polished gold anodizing off of the surface and brought to a mirror. Gold anodizing left in cutouts.
-carbon short cage from Speedware. Painted gold except for the outwards facing surfaces (left raw carbon) and re-cleared.
-polished cage spring bolt
-polished main body spring
-all screws replaced with gold aluminum
-custom support stand fabricated from old shadow cage lol
What is left?
-lower hanger plate bolt (purchased in gold aluminum but didn't fit. Re-ordering in Ti)
-gold aluminum cable pinch bolt and polished cable sandwich plate, ruined the gold one I had trying to cut to size :-( .
-respray a few damaged areas and blemishes
-final polish of mirrored surfaces.
And now for the moment you've all been waiting for!
Where it all started
That is actually amazing!! Great work!
ReplyDeleteI can't claim to know what exactly everything is that I'm looking at. But it's remarkable to see the finished product! It actually looks kinda beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteHey it looks great! I saw this over on the weight weenies forum too. I had a couple of question for you. what are the dimensions of the cage pivot bolt? I'm tuning a shimano SLX derailleur, and I wanted to modify it to accept the XTR cage pivot axle assembly. And what size bolt did you use to replace the steel pivot pins? Cheers
ReplyDeleteThe XTR Shadow cage is not compatable with any derailleur other than SAINT. If it is carbon you want then it is easy to find carbon cages for the SLX design since it is traditional.
ReplyDeleteCheck out http://www.carbonschmiede.de/ He sources cages from SpeedWare. That's where I got mine.
The bolts are M4 with 0.7mm thread. A common size. Got them from http://www.tastynuts.com/
Hi Benno,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you understood what I meant when I said modify. I'm planning on fitting the XTR P-Axle bolt into the body of the SLX. I want the dimensions of the bolt so that I can get the correct threaded rivet for the outer cage plate. As I will be removing the bolt fixed to the SLX out plate and enlarging the hole to accept the rivet. So in short I'm going to remove the P-axle assembly from the SLX derailleur and install the one from the XTR. So if by any chance you could measure that bolt for me it would be really appreciated. I don't want carbon as its not in my budget, however bolts are.
Cheers
We use different types of derailleur.Thanks for sharing your creative experience with us.
ReplyDeletehigh tech rubber & nylon wheels