The Yokota project
 

I posted a question in the mechanical forum concerning the brake and it was suggested I start a post about my project bike here in the tandem forum. So, here is is for all who may be interested in this project bike. I'll also post before and after pics in the drop bar MTB thread over in the C&V forum once it is done.

Third tandem. I originally bought my first one, a Trek T100, about 1 1/2 years ago from another BF member, Mymojo. That turned out to be too tall for my wife and she couldn't get a foot down until I stopped the bike and leaned it over when she was ready. Dumped her a few times before I decided we shouldn't ride it any longer.

We then bought a Diamondback tandem for $150 at a swap meet. Not nearly as nice a bike as the Trek, but it fit. We eventually sold the Trek and set the money aside until the right bike in the right size came along on the used market.

A '94 Yokota Grizzly Peak came up a few weeks later. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to go look at it and we almost didn't go. I don't think the seller spoke english well enough and my requests for him to measure the standover height for the stoker was not getting me the information I needed to know if it was worth making the drive. The images he sent me through text messages made it appear the bike was several inches taller than it really was. Finally got what I needed to know.

It needs some work, but at $200, the price was right.

Before:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339004

In work:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339005

Drop bars and Suntour Barcon shifters:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339006

Needed to get the bars high enough for my wife who cannot handle the typical leaned over position of drops. Stole the stoker bar mount from the Diamondback and added an extentible stoker stem to that. I can get them up even a bit higher and closer if needed.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339007

Replaced the Shimano Altus derailleur with a Deore, since I already had it on hand in my parts box. The freehub body was defective, but the C&V forum's "Box O' Crap" came to my rescue, landing on my porch right when needed, with a compatible freehub in it. A quick visit to SheldonBrown, Park Tools and Youtube told me how to swap out the needed mechanism.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339008

The rear U-brake has a bad internal part, resulting in no return spring tension on the right yoke and it wont center. Waiting on a new U-brake I ordered the other day.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339009

The original cable hanger for the front cantilevers was built into the Garvin Flexstem, so I added a fork mount hanger, rather than trying to find an oversized headset hanger for the 1 1/4" headset.
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=339010

Great project! Fun to see the transition into your (the two of you) bike.
LouM...

Have fun with your project, starting to look good.

That Girvan Flexstem (I had one on an MTB in about 1990!) might be worth a bit on eBay. In fact I think stems with that external diameter are getting pretty rare. I have just put the Nitto quill stem adaptor on my T200 to get fit flexibility and the ability to remove the bars speedily when travelling with the bike. I had to order it from Tandems East because I couldn't find that particular model of adaptor for sale in Australia.

Anyway, congrats on the new beast, and thanks for the nice pictures too.

I had one of the Nitto adapters on the Trek and gave it away with the bike as an enhancement to sell it. I found I had a shim in my parts box, so I was able to use a 1 1/8 stem on this bike for the moment. I may eventually order another Nitto adapter, but I'm waiting until I get the bike on the road. I'll know what I need to do with the bar position once I am riding it.

Nice to see an old bike like that getting used. Hope to see you on the road.

I now realize I know even less about U-brakes than I thought: Thought that rear U-brakes were always mounted under the chain stays. Obviously not.

I think that will be a very good bike for you guys. Love all the work you have done. Looks very nice.

How did you make the Suntour barcons work with a freehub, thought they were meant for 7 sp freewheels?

I put the same tires on my Burley just to see if I would like 32c tires or not. (I do, of course).

In friction mode, they will shift anything as long as the derailleur is properly adjusted.

BTW - I'm enjoying this rebuilding project. Keep the updates coming!

Henry

As Hup said, they are friction shifters, so they work with everything. On one of my other bikes I did originally put a 9 speed cluster on with the same type of shifters and found that 9 speeds was a little to finicky for my preferences (There were other issues with my original choice of cassette and that had some effect as well). 8 works just fine. I may change this Yokota to an 8 speed if I find something appropriate at an upcoming swap meet.

These are 1 1/2" width and I thought they were a fair amount wider than the 32C Paselas I have on another bike. I just measured both and these WTB's are 35mm wide, while the 32C Paselas measure at 33mm. I'm liking a width in the 30-40mm range for everything but my go-fast road bikes, and even those may get upgraded to 28C next time they need tires.

Got the Tektro RL340 levers in a couple of days ago. I really like the shape of these for my bikes that don't require brifters, which is all but one. Very comfortable levers. Still waiting on the replacement U brake that I ordered at the same time. Zip Van Winkle's tracking system shows it bounced back and forth in the Phildelphia sorting facility for 4 days. No update scan from PA this morning, perhaps that means it is really on the way now.

The U brake is the only major item left. Everything else is minor stuff like putting my preferred pedals on and taping the bars. Then a shakedown cruise, stopping every 1/4 mile to make adjustments. I think I'll need a stem with about an inch less reach. This usable, but just a touch more of a stretch than I like. More pics once I get it rolling.

Yo, one thing that i see on your bike is that the fork does not look to be a very heavy duty unit and it is several years old. We bought a 1989 Santana three years ago and Santana highly recommended that we replace the fork with a new one as forks can fatigue over the years. As i remember you are not a fly weight team and i am confident that a fork failure is the last thing you would want to have happen. The one on the bike might be just fine but I would certainly suggest that you check it out.

I'll give it a careful inspection. Thanks for the tip.

On the "U" brake, can that be retro-fitted to "V" brakes?

No. The mounting bosses for a U brake are above the rim, while V brake bosses and cantilevers are below the level of the rim. If they had been the same, I would have just used some cantilevers out of my spares bin.

V-brakes and cantilevers can use the same mountings, and I have several bikes which originally had cantis which I've changed to V brakes.

The U-brake arrived today and I finished her up. Just the final touches and adjustments to riding position. I'll need to find a new captain's stem to get my bars a couple of cm closer.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=340378 http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=340381http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=340382http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=340383

That frame looks like it would fit me. If you ever want to unload it let me know. :)

The bike is looking great. Set up much like our Burley Rock n Roll.

Do you know what quill stem that is? Is it 1" or 1 1/8"?

1 1/4", actually, if you are talking about steerer tube size, which would take a 1 1/8" diameter quill. (Stem/steerer tube sizes tend to confuse the heck out of me) I have a 1 1/8 stem (1" quill) in there with a shim to fit it to the larger steerer tube. I had a 1 1/4 threadless adapter but I gave it away with the Trek as an enticement to sell it. I'll buy another if I decide I need to.

Good job. Now for your riding impressions. How does it handle? Comfortable?
LouM...

If you end up going the adapter route and you have no need for that stem, I would be interested in taking it off your hands. Sturdy 1 1/8" quills are as scarce as hen's teeth these days.

Overall, I like it a lot and expect this will be a keeper. I need a shorter reach stem for myself, the hoods seem about an inch further away than what I have my other bikes at and I can tell. My wife says she wants her bars tilted up to bring the lever stubs closer, but I have now adjusted them to where her levers are vertical and the adjustable stoker stem is slightly past the max extension mark. Not sure if there is anything further I can do to get her bars closer and more upright. She does say that this does help some numbness issues she was having on the flat bar bikes. Exactly why I prefer drop bars and decided I was doing this conversion. She's resisted drops because she assumed drop bars always meant a leaned over riding position, which her back can't handle.

We wandered around town most of the day for a 19 mile maiden voyage. Had to fix a slow leak in the rear tire. One thing I've discovered about tandems that is different from a single bike is that low tire pressure in the rear makes it feel like the back end is sliding out from under you. On a single you just find yourself working harder and eventually riding on the rim.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=340533

I may be changing the WTB street tires out for something with some more bite and maybe a touch wider. Someone posted in another thread mentioning Continental Double Fighter 2 tires and after reading up on them, I think they would be a good choice for this bike.



The original stem is a Garvin Flexstem. The quill is 1 1/8" to fit a 1 1/4" steerer tube. Yes, that size is quite scarce these days, but the extension is longer than what I will likely ever use and I don't envision changing this bike back to it's former configuration. Is that what you are interested in?