Yesterday José joined me in the Workshop in the Sky for what we hoped would be a great leap forward in the Forking Dynamite project.

I got started before José arrived, disconnecting the hydraulic brake hose for the front brake. I really expected quite a bit of fluid to run out when it did this, but it was only a few drops in the end. Just enough to soak up with a couple of paper towels.

That out of the way, I removed the brake caliper, and then the stem. I expected the fork to drop out of the frame at this point, but it held firm. As I started disassembling the headset piece by piece, I discovered a plastic retaining wedge between the upper bearing and the steerer tube. It took me a minute with a steel pick to get the wedge out, and then the fork slid easily out of the frame.

I’d intended to start last week, only to realize I didn’t have the right tool to hammer out the headset bearing cups. The proper tool arrived mid-week, and it was satisfyingly larger. It took José a good few whacks to hammer out the cups even so — more than I’d expected.

We made sure we had all the bits in the proper order, and then I greased up the headtube to prepare it for the new bearing cups. José made short work of that with the large bearing press, and we even did a better job of lining up the logo than the shop had done with the original headset.

Off to the workshop

With the new bearing cups in, we added the rest of the headset bits and made a trial fitting of the fork. I scored the steerer tube with a shop knife so we’d know where to cut it, and with that we packed up the fork and a whole bag full of tools to go to the workshop.

Apart from a generously sized work area, the workshop gave a choice of bench vises. I’d brought a headset cutting guide, which we clamped in a vise. José made quick work of cutting the steerer tube to size with the carbon fibre saw blade I’d got just for this purpose. I spent a couple of minutes smoothing the cut end with a file before we tackled the next job: snaking the dynamo wire through the fork blade.

The internal cable routing kit did not make the job as easy as we had hoped. It took several tries to get the magnetized cable through the opening in the fork blade. When we finally got it, we taped the dynamo wire to the cable and pulled it through. It was a very tight fit getting it to pass through the small opening at the end, and it took some cooperation, a bent paperclip and a pair of needle-nosed pliers in the end.

We decided at this point to pack up and return home so we’d be in time for dinner. Once home, looking at the instructions and our handiwork, I immediately realized I’d pulled the wire through the wrong opening. This one is supposed to come out the top of the steerer tube, not the fork crown.

We had time yet before dinner so we got to work again. This time the combination of routing kit cable and dynamo wire socket just did not want to fit through the opening. We ended up yanking the routing cable off with the dynamo wire still inside, and spent more than 10 minutes fishing for it with another bent paperclip, a pair of fine tweezers and a hemostat before we finally got enough of the socket clear that we could grab it with the pliers. And so it stood at the end of the day: first dynamo cable threaded through the fork.

Another day, another go

This morning I got an early start with the routing kit, pulling a cable from the opening near the fork crown up through the steerer tube. The challenge was getting the guide to make the corner from crown to steerer. That done, I taped the wire from the headlight to the end of the cable and pulled it through. On the first try, the wire slipped from the tape and I had to start again. I got more aggressive with the electrical tape on the second go (after once again getting the guide around the corner at the fork crown) and it was a success.

With the wires in place, I mounted the headlight to the fork crown and took the lot out to the Workshop in the Sky and fired up the soldering iron. The junction box does not leave a lot of room for soldering, and the coax cable is difficult to strip and separate the wires. Those are my excuses for the sloppy soldering result, but the truth is I could have used José’s youth here, not just an additional pair of hands, but steadier ones as well.

Soldering done (it took two tries), I pushed the wires back into the junction box (sort of) and used a glue gun to seal it up. Then I added heat-shrink tubing to really make a water-tight seal.

In preparation for installing the fork, I greased up the bearing cups, laid out the bearings and other headset bits within reach, and added the top cap and the proper wrench for getting it all together.

Only then did I realize I’d need to use the guide cable again to get the hydraulic brake hose through the fork blade. This was a straight run and the magnet pulled the cable right through. The hydraulic line followed, and then it was a matter of getting the bits on in the right order. I could have used another hand or two but it all came right in the end.

Not finished yet

I put the front wheel in place and spun it up as best I could with my hand. I didn’t see any light — not even the faintest glow. A few things are possible: I might need to spin the wheel faster (that is, ride the bike), or it’s possible I messed up the soldering job, leaving an open circuit or a short.

I’d been working hard all morning to get to this point, and it was lunchtime. I decided to leave the rest for another day. Yet to do: install the taillight and reinstall the brake caliper, then bleed the brake.

I haven’t connected the charging port in the stem cap. I’m misplaced the plug for the junction box. Whether I track down or replace the plug at this point depends on what I find during the troubleshooting.

Finally, when all that is done, I’ll replace the handlebar tape, which has become quite worn. It’s not an integral part of this project, but I’ve been keeping it as the crowning touch.

Troubleshooting

If the light isn’t working on my next ride, first I’ll check all the connections. The next step will be to take out the junction box. It’s a great idea but it’s just too cramped for me to make a trustworthy, neat solder joint. If I get to this point, I’ll probably just splice the wires together, solder them and cover them with heat-shrink tubing.