Changes to my RadRover

[NinjaNick]

Yeah I am considering the freewheel mod even though its a PITA! The report from Mbirds is hard to ignore. Hopefully this rain clears up and I can ride. Been so bz lately then rain go figure!

 

[SpiderDice]

@NinjaNick I will post pics of mine with all the mods tomorrow after it gets the new tires and cassette installed. It's getting kind of crazy now with all the add-ons.

You get a chance for those pics? Thanks!

 

[walawn]

@SpiderDice The tires and tubes were installed ok. They were unable to do the casette because of the wire coming out of the hub. I have a special tool coming in Wednesday to see if that will work. I will post pictures if successful.

 

[NinjaNick]

@SpiderDice The tires and tubes were installed ok. They were unable to do the casette because of the wire coming out of the hub. I have a special tool coming in Wednesday to see if that will work. I will post pictures if successful.

Can you share what tool you decided to purchase?

 

[walawn]

@NinjaNick The gurus on the endless sphere forum recommended this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007AI1LGW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I won't hold my breath, but it's worth a shot.

 

[mbirds]

OK, so with the freewheel tool... you have two options. 1) The best is to slice it in half, per the other radrover threads. I did not have the right tools to do this well. 2) I found the park tool was a bit softer, and you *may* be able to drill it out with a step drill bit enough to fit the plug. My step drill bit was not wide enough diameter but cut the material fine.

I ended up doing the cut and solder method. **I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS.** I have 22 years of experience soldering small wires for R/C gear, including making small nimh battery packs and dealing with servo connectors, micro speed controllers, etc, but I was still nervous. It required careful planning and strategic placement of heat shrink tubing for the three large and six very thin wires. You can see the bulge in the motor wire where I did this in my video. I don't like adding a potential point of failure but I got tired of buying stuff and messing around and wanted my bike to be "done."

The best option is slicing the tool in half if you have the tools or know someone who does... or maybe ask to borrow one on the forum. It should be possible to do it with a hacksaw if you have a vice. Starting over, I would purchase a good vice and use a hacksaw to cut the freewheel into two half circles, and hope it can grip OK.

 

[thatdude902]

Bag mod and debadging to 2016 model. I was going to leave just RAD but then I realized the right side the RAD would be on the bottom, as written. So I left it the same as Mike. And the bag mod still could use a little straightening, but overall, looks OK. Looks like the triangle is smaller with the 2016 model. A little extra storage is alright too.

Edit: Ah, I just realized that the top-back velcro goes better around the seat tube, that straightens the top of the bag.

 

[BHP]

Just wondering if there was a clearcoat over the downtube decal, and if pulling off the decal affected the look of the downtube?

 

[SpiderDice]

Just wondering if there was a clearcoat over the downtube decal, and if pulling off the decal affected the look of the downtube?

I have the white version, and there is definitely some sort of clear coat over the badging. I can't remove it at all..

 

[thatdude902]

Yeah, clear coated on 2016. I just use some matte black vinyl cut to size. They are pretty cheap on Amazon or ebay.

 

[walawn]

@SpiderDice @thatdude902 A black or white can of Plastidip that you could spray on would work well too. Several coats would cover and you can always peel it off if you didn't want it on the frame anymore. A can costs less than $8. I use the stuff all the time and it works wonders.

 

[HuckJones]

Really appreciate all the info from you guys. Just wondering what you have found to be the best method for removing/covering the frame decals?
Thanks

 

[thatdude902]

Really appreciate all the info from you guys. Just wondering what you have found to be the best method for removing/covering the frame decals?
Thanks

I just used matte black vinyl that I got cheaply at Amazon 12" by 10' for something like $8. Under certain reflections you can see the outlines but good enough. Plus it peels off if I didn't like it. walawn suggested Plastidip, I don't have experience with that but sounds good too. The 2015 according to Mike can be peeled off. Here's a pic of how the matte vinyl it looks. Plus added pic of an old Garmin gps that was sitting around a drawer doing nothing anyway but found a spot on my handlebar now.

 

[Kren]

Looks good. I'm planning on debadging my downtube like you did.

What size is the triangle bag? That's a good idea. Also, which handlebar stem is that?

How are you guys debadging? Mine (which is white) seems to have a clear coat over all the badging so I don't know how to go about it other than trying to cover vs remove, thanks

 

[Mike in Spokane]

The 2015 had no clear coat and the decal took me less than a minute to get off. The 2016 are clear coated.

 

[HuckJones]

I just used matte black vinyl that I got cheaply at Amazon 12" by 10' for something like $8. Under certain reflections you can see the outlines but good enough. Plus it peels off if I didn't like it. walawn suggested Plastidip, I don't have experience with that but sounds good too. The 2015 according to Mike can be peeled off. Here's a pic of how the matte View attachment 6685vinyl it looks. Plus added pic View attachment 6691 of an old Garmin gps that was sitting around a drawer doing nothing anyway but found a spot on my handlebar now.

Hey, thanks for the info and the pics. The vinyl job you did looks great!

 

[walawn]

@Kren Paint thinner lol ;-)

 

[Kren]

@Kren Paint thinner lol ;-)

DOH!! hahaha

 

[walawn]

I like the good sense of humor by most on this forum!

 

[SpiderDice]

DOH!! hahaha

Let me know if that works for you dude.