Bicycle Mechanics - What is this thing???

Just got my new bike(Litespeed road) and in the box there was some sort of little metal tool. I can't figure out what the heck this thing would be used for. It's an L shaped round steel bar(approx. 3/8" diameter) - It's turned down on one end and the turned down end is also hollow inside for about 3/4". So what is it??

David

Is it round or an allen key? Can you post a pic?
Some allen keys will be hollowed for security reasons and the allen bolt will have a pin in the middle so a regular allen can not be used.
Slainte:beer:

Originally posted by dirtbikedude
Is it round or an allen key? Can you post a pic?
Some allen keys will be hollowed for security reasons and the allen bolt will have a pin in the middle so a regular allen can not be used.
Slainte:beer:

It is totally round. It has no way of "grabbing" anything like an allen or torx wrench. That's what I thought it was at first but it is completely smooth. All I can figure is maybe it's some sort of an alignment tool for some part of the bike. I can post a pic but it will be later tonight or tomorrow.

What about the shape of the hollow area? Round? Square? Hex? See anything down in there? Are all the components pretty standard stuff? Anything exotic that might require an unusual tool? Check everything over carefully, looking for a hole the turned down part will fit in. What kind of wheels/hubs? Could it be a special sort of spoke wrench that is inserted through a deep aero rim to engage the head on a special nipple?

All round....inside and out. Here's a little graphic I made that shows sort of what it looks like. The bar is not this fat but it gives you an idea.

http://ecarthage.com/~nivens/misc/whatisit.gif

Its a mismade brake noodle that they threw in there as a trinket.

What model of Litespeed is it? Does the frame happen to have any internally-routed cables? I speculate that it might be an impement used to lead an internally-routed rear brake wire out of the top tube. Pure speculation :)

Makes sense to me.

You might have to resort to calling Lightspeed to find out.

Could it be part of the packaging, maybe used to clamp down one of the parts for shipping?

Ok dudes.....here's a picture of the mystery "thing".....

http://ecarthage.com/~nivens/thing/thing-6.jpg


More pictures are here.... The Mystery "THING" (http://ecarthage.com/~nivens/thing)


It was in a box with the manuals, reflectors, spoke wrench, and other assorted crap. I've looked all thru the manuals for all the components but I can't find anything about it.

It'a a Litespeed "Hyperion" and no the cables are not routed inside the frame anywhere. All Ulltegra, Spinergy XAERO wheels, just standard stuff that came on the complete bike.

David

It appears to be a some thing used to hold part of the frame while they were building it. I have a friend that works with metals and he has a few tools that look some thing like that but I am not sure.
Slainte:beer:

Could it be a reeeealy small cookie cutter with a convenient L-shaped handle? :)

I can't tell the scale from the pic...but if hollow, could it be used as a valve extension?

It's quite clearly a conversation starter.

Seems to be working doesn't it?

We have two mysteries here: the bar, and the fact that a Litespeed was delivered with reflectors!

Now, I suppose that they are conforming to some kind of law. But, whatever weight is saved with this Alu-Carbo-Ti combo, can be quickly regained with a mass of reflectors.

Don't get me wrong here, I am not a weight weenie by any means. I just don't have a very high opinion of reflectors. Real light is the key to safety--reflectors do very little. But, I would hazard a guess that only very, very small fraction of Litespeed owners actually put the reflectors on.

Very nice looking bike, by the way.

Cheers,
Jamie

P.S. Someone please call Litespeed about that L-shaped bar. I am dying to know.

It looks like some form of locating piece to me.

Of course it could be the mothership for millions of tiny aliens intent on colonising earth, who just got mixed up when they were told to go to "lightspeed"

Don't worry....I didn't put the goofy reflectors on. Not really anyplace to mount them anyhow(that I could find).

I think we have a winner!!! I think it's really a micro cookie cutter. Diet cookies maybe? hehehe

OK I'm gonna call CC today and ask them what the hell this thing is. I'll let ya know.

Oh BTW here are a few pics I took of my new ride with ZERO miles on it....... My New Bike (http://ecarthage.com/~nivens/bike/)

David

Well I just got off thephone with Colorado Cyclist and they have no idea what it is either. I give up. :confused:

It was a nice conversation piece though....LOL!! :D

David

OK so I lied.....I just couldn't give up that easily. :D

I called Litespeed and they thought it was probably a tool that came with the Spinergy wheels. He was not even 100% sure what it was used for but he said something about it was maybe used to remove the "free hub body" .......whatever that is :confused: He said it was not really anything I would ever need and I didn't need to carry it with me when I went riding...LOL :D

I still like the teesy weensy cookie cutter idea...hahaha. :beer:


David

Hehe... well, I did go look at Litespeed's site, and since it has Spinergy wheels I went to Spinergy's site to see if anything jumped out at me. Looking at an exploded diagram of the hubs, I didn't see any obvious places where a metal cylinder with a round cavity would be useful. Very mysterious! Maybe you could ask Spinergy if they have any light to shed on it?

Many years ago I went to teletype repair school. Teletype machines were similar to a manual typewriter, only MUCH more complicated. We'd spend the entire morning of the class taking the machine completely apart down to the last nut and bolt. After lunch we'd put the thing all back together. We had an instructor that liked to throw an "extra part" into the pile of parts during lunch break and watch us struggle to find out where it should have been installed. Sometimes he would switch different small parts between student tables and see if we could figure out who had the part we needed to get our machine running.;)

"its a fiendish thingy"

George Harrison to Ringo Starr in the movie Help.

I am certain I own the prototype! It was originally designed for shooting giant spit wads around corners at my unsuspecting siblings. :)

All along I was thinking when you called Litespeed they would say "THAT'S where that thing is. Could you possibly drop it in the mail to us? It's the key to the soft drink machine in the employee lounge."

Wow!! What a great looking bike! :beer:

Could it be used to press the top down on a presta valve? I sure could use something like that with my Rev-X rims when I am trying to relieve some pressure from the tires.

Originally posted by Cadd
Wow!! What a great looking bike! :beer:

Thanks! I think it is too! :D :beer:

David

Originally posted by Brian_T
Could it be used to press the top down on a presta valve? I sure could use something like that with my Rev-X rims when I am trying to relieve some pressure from the tires.

Yes I suppose it would work for that but can't you just use your finger? LOL :D What does a Rev-X rim look like??

D

Deep carbon rims. Standard 30mm presta valves aren't even CLOSE to coming up where I can get a finger on 'em. I learned this the hard way after NOT opening the valve on one before putting on a new wheel...

It's a rajjamethingy, or a quantum sized googlyflip, though it might be too big for that. It might possibly be a gurglebrod but I think that might be misleading.
Whatever it is you seem to have the only one in existence so its probably priceless. So don't throw it away.

I was thinking hydraulic spizzwheel or wiffeltit!

Is it chrome plated? If so it is an expensive, originial THREE WAY KNORTON VALVE..... if its stainless steel, it's just a run of the mile Knorton valve.

It's the final part that Saddam needs to create his most deadly ever weapon of mass destruction. Haven't you noticed the secret service tailing you for the last few days? That's them in the lime green Toyota parked across the road. Be careful when you check them out. You don't want them to know you're onto them.

I finally caved in and looked this up in the QBP catalog. It's a "conversation piece." ;)

Originally posted by mechBgon
I finally caved in and looked this up in the QBP catalog. It's a "conversation piece." ;)
So my guess was right in my first post on this thread.

Sorry dragracer, it seems the secret service is following you for some other reason. Is there something you need to tell us?

I was betting that it was part of one of the reflectors

SELL IT ON EBAY!!!!!

hhahahaaha, i'm sure someone will pay you a fortune for it! maybe enough to make that bike cost you nothing!

ps. beautiful bike you got there :)

:beer:

Originally posted by MediaCreations

So my guess was right in my first post on this thread.

Sorry dragracer, it seems the secret service is following you for some other reason. Is there something you need to tell us?


Uhhhhhhhhhh............Uhhhhhhhhhh......... NO! I Didn't do it!! I don't know what you're talking about!!! :D

OK I wasn't gonna post this but I better go ahead and 'fes up....hehehe.

The other night I was looking at the "thing" again. I went and put my reading glasses on this time :D and got it up real close to a light. Low and behold...... on the inside of the turned down end there are six small grooves cut into the inside of this thing. You can't see them unless you look very closely. So I guess it IS some kind of tool afterall. It's almost like a very skinny socket wrench. But who knows for what. Maybe it is like Litespeed told me and it's used for something on the Spinergy wheel.

does it mate with the spoke heads in the rim ?

Call Spinergy!

Originally posted by Ritalin
Call Spinergy!

There's an idea! LOL :D


No it does not fit the spokes as far as I can tell.

If it has splines in the cavity, then I'm with Michael W, I bet it's for truing your Spinergys.

We have a winner!! I just got an e-mail from Spinergy. Here's what they had to say......

That is a 1/4" nut driver, used for truing the wheels. If you remove the tire, tube, and rim strip, you will see 1/4" hex nuts inside the spoke holes of the rim. You turn these with the nut driver, while holding the spoke with the spline tool (which also should have been included). You will probably never use the truing tools, unless you crash though!

Spinergy




So I guess the mystery is over. It was fun while it lasted...LOL :)

now someone go buy a new bike and get another mystery object!

Originally posted by dragracer
So I guess the mystery is over. It was fun while it lasted...LOL :)

Whew! Good thing you didn't take my advice back in the second reply to this thread. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun.
:D

Originally posted by RainmanP


Whew! Good thing you didn't take my advice back in the second reply to this thread. It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun.
:D

LOL ..... Yep you were right dude. I would have sworn at the time that it was totally smooth inside though. Guess I should have looked closer to start with. Guess that's what happens when you get old and can't see. :p

Tell me about it! A few years ago I had perfect vision. Now I have to wear +200 reading glasses just to go to the bathroom!

Originally posted by RainmanP
Tell me about it! A few years ago I had perfect vision. Now I have to wear +200 reading glasses just to go to the bathroom!
I am in the process of adjusting to bifocals! arrrgh when did
my eyes age? I sure don't feel that old! I didn't even
wear glasses last week.
Oh btw, I don't recommend new bifocals and Rollers. Its
quite disconcerting when you turn your head. . .
not to mention the embarrasment of dumping over!

Marty

hey dragracer,
i swear i had seen a post of your bike... even pre-assembly somewhere in these forums and i can't find it now or i was out of it before. I just got a Litespeed road bike too and i just wanted to see yours again :D

Beers all around for Litespeed owners :beer: