CCS Add-ons & Upgrades & Handlebar Options

[Reid]

A 450 mm straight bar makes it easy to slip between cars and also bring the bike indoors.

I like to stand on the pedals at times; the excellent stock grips are now ideally spaced for that.

The basic handlebar stuff barely yet perfectly fits and is all I need:

(I do not use a thumb throttle so I have removed it and set it aside)

 

[Reid]

The brake levers have been cut short.
They are now 1-finger levers (2 fingers will still fit) and this promotes four fingers wrapped around the grip.
Short levers are less liable to crash damage.



I've waterproofed this toggle switch. It cuts out the motor, via the brake inhibitor circuit.
The headlight, speedo and odo and other aspects of the display stay powered up.

Back and forth from assist to manual, easy and quick,

The brake inhibitors were removed (there is a tiny grub screw that must be loosened first!) and one of their wire-pairs was used for the toggle switch application.

Note the crowding of the L and R brake handle bodies and see the JB Weld repair to a broken oil reservoir cover, broken because I wrenched off the brake inhibitor without first realizing there was a grub screw securing it:

 

[Reid]

This relatively inexpensive Suntour NCX suspension seatpost is really helpful!

It is wrapped in black bandage to keep out the silica dust and hide it from curious eyes.

I cannot ride for long without it. It absorbs countless large and small displacements that otherwise would pummel my lower back
(two long ago back surgeries).
Going back to the stock post, occasionally, when I'm feeling good, reminds me painfully the next day that suspension is a personal requisite.

Now, there are better and costlier parallel link suspension seatposts. However, the Suntour is quality construction and design, and it works well. Remember, too, the Thudbuster Long Throw. It has been a success for many years. I've owned two in the past, both stolen along with the bikes. This time I wanted to try the more compact NCX. Am pleased with it, that it uses a sturdy spring you can preload and rate-adjust, instead of short-lived elastomers the TB uses for springs.

It was another of his thoughtful acts of engineering, that Tora Harris made our CCS frames short at the seatpost for the express purpose to sure-fit any installation of a parallel link suspension seatpost. Thank you again for that, Tora.

If you are 5' 10", the commonly sold 350mm long NCX is plenty long enough for the CCS L sized frame.
But if you can get the 400mm version, so much the better versatility for different riders and make use of a smaller and easier to straddle CCS frame.

 

[Reid]

I will add a few more photos and notes to this thread and refine the posts with more links and such.

Comments are welcome, for sure.

Every one of us has different likes and needs.

I'm sharing my customizations in case any of them may be helpful to others.

Walkaround:

• Abus 5850 frame lock is fastened invisibly and securely with four, 3/16" dia. x 1/2" long aluminum pop rivets
• the chain that optionally goes with this Abus
• a stem extender
• 1" stem for the one inch dia. straight bar
• 450 mm straight bar (unscrew and don't use the bar end tips)
• Foldylock classic is big and heavy
• automatic sudden-brake light and bike alarm that I set whenever I set the frame lock, which is always, when I step away from this bike, even in my own back yard
• the Wald 582 is powdercoated. It works better, looks better, than the Sunlite equivalent

 

[JRA]

Why I prefer drop bars on my road bikes. Naturally narrow and plenty of room for all the accessories I need. Plus more available hand positions for variety

 

[Reid]

Why I prefer drop bars on my road bikes. Naturally narrow and plenty of room for all the accessories I need. Plus more available hand positions for variety

So true. But, alas, I must ride upright and cannot ever be a road biker again. For many people a drop bar, even rotated upward, might be a great thing. It was to minimize the width, for squeezing by things, that I made my bar so short. I like the looks, too. It fits the bike. And like on a road bike, it certainly feels great to stand on the pedals when your grip is about shoulder width.

Another thing I am going to do, is a transplant of my existing Cygolite Metro 850 (it is brighter than the supplied headlight and has an effective, wide-beaming lenticular diffusor) to the fork top. I will hardwire its capsule to the CCS headlight power wire.

Afterthought: I have just enough room for all that I want on my handlebars. I don't want anything else on the bar. It is about as clean looking as it can be. We all please ourselves, that's what we are here for. To be happy with our respective choices.

I really like your expertise, JRA. and your exposition of ideas is engaging and persuasive.

Addendum:

$90 narrow tread trailer (the awkwardly held phone flipped the video vertical, not me)

It has zero safety features and no safety tether.
The hitch employs the usual compliant spiral spring with plastic noodle insert: flexible enough to lay the bike down.
The connection is by a plastic push button-contained metal tang which is slidable in the all-plastic female hitch body.
The tang captures a groove of the male portion of the seatpost mount.
The seatpost mount is allen bolted on either side of the seatpost and its width may graze your inner thighs (mine just clear).
This hitch will be perfectly secure till it breaks.
I haven't put on the stupid-ugly supplied reflectors; am going to use cheap knog knock-offs instead.
I know a wider track trailer will be less prone to flipping if one wheel gets a good launching by a major bump. However, I really like this narrow format and removable bin;
I will be careful not to tow at high speeds without being especially familiar with the road surface.
If I crash it someday it will be my fault.

Am gonna put on a nylon strap in respect for safety of the public roads. One wonders how they can sell this item for years on end without a backup attachment system.



Quality larger platform pedals with screw-and-nut pins and better bearings than the stock pedals
(they don't come in black but the red turns out to look good on a red bike)

 

[JRA]

So true Reid, we all do what's feels best for our needs. I rarely ride in the drops though and so my normal use is the same as if I had a flat bar height wise. Mostly I ride on the hoods with my hands oriented 90d from a flat bar which I find eases some issues I have with my ulnar nerve(s).

I was really addressing the narrower bars because they as you say fit better in to the road environment and the bike handles just the way I want it. Back in the early days of mtb your handlebars were rarely wider than your shoulder width whereas now they are way wider which makes the handling twitchy to me and you are more apt to get the ends caught on stuff.

 

[Reid]

JRA, you know so much about cycling. I am puzzled why the style today is for wider bars on mtb? I have never mountain biked. I'd be put off by wide bars and stuff whizzing by so near! I only know I how much I like to slip by cars at red lights!

Always looking for more of your posts. I like to learn from them what's been there/done that!

Not a funny video find; just a personal fear,

"Just showing how a slight tap on the handlebar can put one in the dirt fast!"
(which gets me back to the title of this thread and why at basis I posted it)

 

[Bicyclista]

@Reid, I like your mods! Specially the narrow handlebars. I cut off 2 inches from each side of my stock handlebars on my Haibike AllMtn. I suppose people like wide handlebars for the increased leverage, but I don't. I find narrow handlebars more comfortable, and I like the ability to go through narrow openings, whether between bushes or between cars.

For my road bike I favor the narrow Monmartre handlebar sold by Velo Orange. It's not a drop bar, it's an upright city bar. Like you, my hunched-over riding days are over. I prefer an upright riding position.

Enjoy your ride!

 

[JRA]

JRA, you know so much about cycling. I am puzzled why the style today is for wider bars on mtb? I have never mountain biked. I'd be put off by wide bars and stuff whizzing by so near!

I had saved this a few years ago and it explains it better than I can: http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/article/trail-tech-are-wider-bars-better-bars-36350/

But as they say it should be more about personal preference than following trends. The Levo I rode Saturday had wider bars than my bike and I found myself cringing a few times when threading between two trees but managed to stay out of trouble. The bike handled very strange compared to mine which was the result of the 3.0 tires and wider bars. I prefer a narrower bar and tire for sure!

 

[Randy Reck]

Anyone tried cutting the stock bar? Looks like you can take ~1" off each side aka -50mm total

 

[Reid]

Anyone tried cutting the stock bar? Looks like you can take ~1" off each side aka -50mm total

Yes, you can take an inch or maybe more off the stock bar. That's how I started. Recommend using a tubing cutter for a neat, square cut. deburr ID of cut bar so your grips' outboard anti-spin sleeve can reinsert. The problem with cutting the stock bar more than roughly 2", is that the 1" bar has a gradual swelling as it nears the stem. Your shifter and such may not have enough reach around to clamp. It gets fiddly. That is why I just set aside the stock bar and bought a straight bar of a known, personally preferred length: 450mm is the absolute minimum length of straight bar that can be used with this bike and still have the stock components (MINUS the thumb throttle) fit on it. (See first posts).

Inasmuch as a bicycle steers with mere ounces of pressure, I have never needed for street riding a wide bar at all. That a wide bar catches when I go through a doorway and makes the bike less handy in tight traffic is the main reason a short bar works for me. Wish it could be shorter still. It takes very little input to keep a bike under control on a street. Not much leverage is needed. Long bars for me feel twitchy and wrong, I'm so used to riding with a 450mm bar. And it looks neat, too. MTBs all used to have relatively short bars. What new law of physics was discovered (grin, being ironic) that fashion has made some very very very wide bars in recent years. Like, the pendulum of fashion has swung back to 1910 again when wide bars were all the rage for the leverage, we suppose!

Editorializing aside, the CCS bar is not too wide. It is a good, normal, mainstream bar well calculated to please the greatest number of users. I am an extremely narrow minority. And that's OK: I get by those lines of cars with room to zoom.

 

[Chris Hammond]

Speaking of handlebar mods, has anyone added a mirror to the end of their bars on a CCS? I am wondering which one works well with the stock grips? Thanks.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Speaking of handlebar mods, has anyone added a mirror to the end of their bars on a CCS? I am wondering which one works well with the stock grips? Thanks.

Chris, I've ordered a MirrCycle mountain bike mirror. If it doesn't fit my CCS, it will fit my wife's Pedego. I'll post here when I know something. Supposed to arrive next Tuesday.

 

[Chris Hammond]

Great. Thanks. I'll look for the update.

 

[Asher]

After riding some more, I've decided to buy a narrower bar. Ordered a Nitto bar with a slight sweep in 52 cm, aluminum (there was none without sweep). Nitto is a renowned bike parts maker in Japan. Takes a month to ship lol.

https://www.amazon.com/Nitto-B2520AA-Street-25-4-silver/dp/B007EZKNRE

There's also a Ritchey flat bar in 56 cm, and a Nitto in steel, no sweep, 50 cm.

Good point about the pedals - do you think the absence of reflectors matters? I have better pedals too, I'll swap them on.

Have you considered using pedal straps?

 

[Reid]

After riding some more, I've decided to buy a narrower bar. Ordered a Nitto bar with a slight sweep in 52 cm, aluminum (there was none without sweep). Nitto is a renowned bike parts maker in Japan. Takes a month to ship lol.

https://www.amazon.com/Nitto-B2520AA-Street-25-4-silver/dp/B007EZKNRE

There's also a Ritchey flat bar in 56 cm, and a Nitto in steel, no sweep, 50 cm.

Good point about the pedals - do you think the absence of reflectors matters? I have better pedals too, I'll swap them on.

Have you considered using pedal straps?

Clips or straps don't appeal here.
The red pedals pictured in an earlier post above got messed up in a bike crash; just as well, because the super shoe-pinning pedal pins were a bit too much. The many steel pins made it hard to reposition the foot.

So, I thought: since I have to replace them, do I really need the steel grip pins? The plastic nub-type is plenty grippy for rubber sole shoes. Now, what can be found in plastic that has reflectors that won't fall off and is relatively thin and although it is loose ball bearings, the QC reputation is there for decent service.

Black Ops T Bar pedals with integrated reflectors.

That is the black color version linked above although I bought them in red.

Resin pedals are much kinder to my shins than metal.

edit: here is a better Black Ops (sealed bearings, thinner, better looking) with securely attached reflector for a little more money.

 

[Asher]

I've got another pair with more pronounced pins than the stock pedals. I once drove the pedal into my right leg because I hit the throttle before putting my leg on it - if I had my other pedals on, might have torn some skin.

So throttle and sharp pins are a dicey combo. Curious to see if anyone else gets straps/toe cages on their pedals, I feel like I have so many pedals lying around I don't want to buy another.

As for the handlebars, it's interesting how even hybrid bikes meant for city riding have such wide bars, but fixie bars like Origin8 don't. I changed my order to these, 56 cm riser bar. My roommate actually has an old mountain bike with 57 cm bars, and that felt about right, maybe a touch wide. I guess wide handlebars are more accessible to the public, and the people who care will just swap one out for a narrower one.

https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-Urba...F8&qid=1523646465&sr=1-2&keywords=origin8+560

 

[Chris Hammond]

I've got another pair with more pronounced pins than the stock pedals. I once drove the pedal into my right leg because I hit the throttle before putting my leg on it - if I had my other pedals on, might have torn some skin.

So throttle and sharp pins are a dicey combo. Curious to see if anyone else gets straps/toe cages on their pedals, I feel like I have so many pedals lying around I don't want to buy another.

As for the handlebars, it's interesting how even hybrid bikes meant for city riding have such wide bars, but fixie bars like Origin8 don't. I changed my order to these, 56 cm riser bar. My roommate actually has an old mountain bike with 57 cm bars, and that felt about right, maybe a touch wide. I guess wide handlebars are more accessible to the public, and the people who care will just swap one out for a narrower one.

https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-Urba...F8&qid=1523646465&sr=1-2&keywords=origin8+560

Asher, have you considered just cutting down the length of the stock bars. I'm guessing a plumbing pipe cutter would easily do the job. It'd save you some $, and you can get it exactly the length you want. It's actually my plan if I find the stock bars too wide. However, I need to add all my planned accessories and make sure I will have enough space.

 

[Asher]

Asher, have you considered just cutting down the length of the stock bars. I'm guessing a plumbing pipe cutter would easily do the job. It'd save you some $, and you can get it exactly the length you want. It's actually my plan if I find the stock bars too wide. However, I need to add all my planned accessories and make sure I will have enough space.

TBH I didn't because I wanted to cut more than an inch and Reid said he had trouble with that - although he wanted to cut way more than me, 9", I'd only be cutting about ~2.5" off each end.