4:34 PM

Sram Force BL Teardown pt. 4

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An easy and arguably cheap way to save some weight is in the clamping mechanism. I didn’t want to make another set of aluminum clamps because that’s already done… HERE.
I did have plans of using a whole new clamping mechanism but my interest in that waned, maybe next time. For this installment I’ve done it the old fashioned straight forward way. Order two aluminum recessed nuts and two M6 titanium bolts (aluminum if you’re light and brave). Cut the bolts’ heads down until they’re T bolts. As for the clamps, I made the cutouts bigger and thinned down the front section as that doesn’t seem to add too much structural strength. The outcome is about 10 grams saved.
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So far the hoodless levers weigh in a 243.7 grams. One can simply strap on the stock hoods and call it a day here but the oem rubber hoods are a big source of weight that could be negated. Of course I still want something with comfort (cushion), grip, water resistance (non slippery when my hands get sweaty), and it has to look good.
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I chose to go with felt because it is light but also because it complies and is able to be shaped a bit. It’s also pretty hard wearing and comfortable. I’ve also drilled holes into the front of the shifter in an effort to use them to sew the felt in place. I tried straight needles but those ended up breaking. I bent needles but that proved to be very difficult when the holes weren’t visible.
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I also tried to use Liquid Stitch, which smelled and felt exactly like Elmer’s white glue… It didn’t work for crap.
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This is the best I came up with while working with the felt. It looks quite nice and is quite comfortable. One problem is that it doesn’t fit perfectly, especially over the top of the hood. The material doesn’t want to sit down in this area. The other problem is that the hood is not bound down to the lever body, causing the hood to freely rotate. I suppose the way to remedy this is to use a stronger/more flexible glue but I don’t like the messiness of that. Instead I’m going to skip using felt all together for now….
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