Sub5 with clinchers, Yet Another Aethos Build

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HumanReason
Posts: 61
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 5:20 am

by HumanReason

Bring that bar tape color into more areas of the build, it'll look awesome. Don't let it turn into another grayscale stealth build.

gSporco
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by gSporco

takolino wrote:
Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:53 am

Small item but another weight saving potential is the expander. Specialized bung for Aethos has been lightened but still not that light. There are lighter weight options like the ultrastar but I’ve been experimenting with gluing in a carbon sleeve to anchor a nut inside the steerer. This creates no expansion and therefore no stress to the steerer but effectively holds preload, up to 8 Nm of torque with an M6 bolt which is more than enough for the headset.

IMG_0201.jpgIMG_0205.jpg

Hey Takolino, sweet job on the build so far.. I am jealous of your skills!! As I go down the rabbit hole of WWing my Strada build I would like to know more about your glue in expander.. Can you provide more details or pictures? I want to build one so that I can have a space to route 1 or maybe 2 Hydro hoses.. At first I want to get my front brake host down the fork and integrated.. then Ill come up with something to mod the rear to maybe route it through the stem and over and behind the headset into the top-tube..

But for now, the easy thing is to get the front hose down the steer tube through the expander.. I like the glue in option a lot.. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated..

TIA!
@gSporco - Instagram
Specialized Aethos
State All Road 6061
Retired Cervelo Aspero

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ryanw
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by ryanw

Great read and awesome work.

Facing a £4,000 carbon frame is bloody brave!

Finished my first Aethos build today, 6.52kg with a mix of Ultegra and DA.
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takolino
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Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

Thanks for the comments everyone!
Yea, the blue bar tape isn't for everyone. When I do a little shopping online or in stores (a distant memory), sometimes, I pickup a few things like bar tape. I get different colors, patterns etc just to have around, experiment with or rewrap a friend or family member's bike. So I have amassed a collection of bar tape. Recently, I got this blue one, which kind of grew on me. The hue is slightly warmer than sky blue but without looking like teal. I rather like how it contrasts with the carbon and decided to give it a go. I've ordered some blue vinyl samples to get a color match and will experiment with it.

If people are interested, I will share the CAD file of the spacer-headset cap on Grabcad. Search for "aethos" in the library. If nothing shows up, just give me a week or so. Download the file and use a 3D printing service or perhaps you already have a printer. Go with FDM first to check fit. Final one can still be FDM if you're ok with the finish. For a smoother matte finish, go with SLS nylon12. These spacers also requires the Whisky carbon spacers which are thinner than standard at 32.5mm OD. Currently, I only have a 10mm spacer design. This is equivalent to adding a 2.5mm spacer to the original headset cap. If people show interest for other heights, I can probably upload more sizes.
Last edited by takolino on Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

takolino
Posts: 340
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Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

ryanw wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:23 pm
Great read and awesome work.

Facing a £4,000 carbon frame is bloody brave!

Finished my first Aethos build today, 6.52kg with a mix of Ultegra and DA.
That's a super clean build and you got some tools.
By the looks of your shop, you're probably no stranger to facing bottom brackets. I swear, it's much easier than facing metal frames. No oily mess to clean up. just a bit of paint/carbon flakes. It's really no big deal. Very healthy for your BB bearings.

takolino
Posts: 340
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Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

gSporco wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:23 pm
Hey Takolino, sweet job on the build so far.. I am jealous of your skills!! As I go down the rabbit hole of WWing my Strada build I would like to know more about your glue in expander.. Can you provide more details or pictures? I want to build one so that I can have a space to route 1 or maybe 2 Hydro hoses.. At first I want to get my front brake host down the fork and integrated.. then Ill come up with something to mod the rear to maybe route it through the stem and over and behind the headset into the top-tube..

But for now, the easy thing is to get the front hose down the steer tube through the expander.. I like the glue in option a lot.. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated..

TIA!
Thanks gSporco!
You've seen my Strada build. Go to page 13 and there are some photos. I would mask the outside of the steerer before you start.
I'll share the CAD file of the three spoke nut holder on Grabcad. Search for "strada" or "bung" or "expander" Download the file and get a 3D printer service to make one. I use Fictiv. Instruct them to orient the part vertically. Use ABS FDM. The nut is a rim brake caliper nut. Get the shortest one, preferably aluminum or titanium for WW. Glue the nut with an 8mm washer into the 3D printed part. Put it in the steerer with a string tied to it. The carbon tube I purchased on ebay is 24mm OD and 22mm ID. Cut a 15-25mm section. Make sure you sand off the clear coat. (Good to sand the inside of the steerer too) Cut a vertical slice in the tube 2-3mm wide . That's so you can compress it before you insert it. Use a strong tape on the inside to keep it compressed. Tubeless rim tape works well. Apply a strong epoxy like J-B weld to both sides and insert flush to the top of the steerer, then remove tape. Pull up the nut with the string until it sticks to the carbon tube. Rotate the nut to the desired position for the brake hose. The carbon tube will expand and squeeze out some epoxy. Wipe clean and let it sit overnight.

LMK if you have any questions. Good luck!

gSporco
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by gSporco

takolino wrote:
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:43 am
gSporco wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:23 pm
Hey Takolino, sweet job on the build so far.. I am jealous of your skills!! As I go down the rabbit hole of WWing my Strada build I would like to know more about your glue in expander.. Can you provide more details or pictures? I want to build one so that I can have a space to route 1 or maybe 2 Hydro hoses.. At first I want to get my front brake host down the fork and integrated.. then Ill come up with something to mod the rear to maybe route it through the stem and over and behind the headset into the top-tube..

But for now, the easy thing is to get the front hose down the steer tube through the expander.. I like the glue in option a lot.. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated..

TIA!
Thanks gSporco!
You've seen my Strada build. Go to page 13 and there are some photos. I would mask the outside of the steerer before you start.
I'll share the CAD file of the three spoke nut holder on Grabcad. Search for "strada" or "bung" or "expander" Download the file and get a 3D printer service to make one. I use Fictiv. Instruct them to orient the part vertically. Use ABS FDM. The nut is a rim brake caliper nut. Get the shortest one, preferably aluminum or titanium for WW. Glue the nut with an 8mm washer into the 3D printed part. Put it in the steerer with a string tied to it. The carbon tube I purchased on ebay is 24mm OD and 22mm ID. Cut a 15-25mm section. Make sure you sand off the clear coat. (Good to sand the inside of the steerer too) Cut a vertical slice in the tube 2-3mm wide . That's so you can compress it before you insert it. Use a strong tape on the inside to keep it compressed. Tubeless rim tape works well. Apply a strong epoxy like J-B weld to both sides and insert flush to the top of the steerer, then remove tape. Pull up the nut with the string until it sticks to the carbon tube. Rotate the nut to the desired position for the brake hose. The carbon tube will expand and squeeze out some epoxy. Wipe clean and let it sit overnight.

LMK if you have any questions. Good luck!
Wow, awesome.. thank you Takolino! Ill also look at your Strada build thread again.. Thank you
@gSporco - Instagram
Specialized Aethos
State All Road 6061
Retired Cervelo Aspero

borist
Posts: 125
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2015 2:19 am
Location: LA, CA

by borist

Amazing build. One of the best build threads I've read in quite some time.... love putting all the electronics in the handlebars and the other details along the way.

Kudos.

takolino
Posts: 340
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:11 am
Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

You're welcome @gSporco! Thanks for the kudos and compliments, @borist!

Thought I'd share my experience with the Trickstuff C22 brakes.
Trickstuff makes powerful and lightweight brake calipers and levers for MTB mostly but they have the C21 caliper which comes in both post mount and flatmount so it will fit the Aethos... almost. More on that later. Lightweight and powerful sounded good.

I got these calipers mainly for the weight savings. After some research, I found info that implied they were around 46g lighter than DuraAce. Email from Trickstuff confirmed a weight of 79g without pads or hose ends. (later confirmed to within 1g on my scale) The rear calipers are around 92g with their pads and safety pin. The Aethos special flat mount adds around 12 grams to the front calipers. Rear calipers will mount without an adapter for 140mm rotors. I ended up getting their kevlar brake hose which are also pretty light. Hoses cut to length front and rear with their lightweight banjos weigh 46g. I also used Sram Ti mounting bolts (about 11 grams front and rear).
rear caliper
rear caliper
front caliper
front caliper
Front and rear hoses, banjos
Front and rear hoses, banjos
About fitting these to the Aethos, the rear caliper actually contacts the seat stays. These are MTB calipers afterall. But some blame goes to the Aethos frame since it's designed to take 140mm rear rotors. The contact was not too major so I decided to take a file to the calipers to make room. About 20 minutes of filing took care of the interference. Something to consider when purchasing these brakes.
filing excess material to make clearance for seat stays
filing excess material to make clearance for seat stays
after modification, just enough clearance
after modification, just enough clearance
Bleeding them was not too complicated but because there's no bleed valve, you'll have to tilt the bike to reinstall a rudimentary screw cap. Orienting the bleed hole in a horizontal position lets you make sure there's no bubbles when you replace the cap.
no bleed valve
no bleed valve
Everything seemed to go together well or so I thought. Front seemed fine but the rear kept giving me bubbles during bleeding. Finally, I gave up and started cleaning up. But the bubbles turned out to be a symptom of a more serious issue. As I was cleaning up, I noticed oil drops on the floor by the rear end. Turns out, the rear seals were leaking. Brand new and fresh out of the box, I reasoned that maybe there is someting stuck in the seals, maybe hair, maybe a metal shaving. I wiped the caliper and was quickly able to see that the inner piston had a leak. Before I disconnected the caliper, I gave the levers a few squeezes to push the piston out part way. Removing it was pretty easy. With a flash light, I found the culprit. The seal was not fully seated. I used a tooth pick to gently push the seal into the groove and reassembled everything, bled the brake one more time and all was good. I was actually glad it wasn't something more serious and that I was able to fix it without sending it back... all the way to Germany. I contacted Trickstuff and Jacob in technical support got back to me the next day and was very apologetic and said he'd send me an extra set of seals.
gray rubber seal not seated all the way.
gray rubber seal not seated all the way.
One last detail on brakes... rotors. I'm going to start with Ashima Ai2 and will evaluate if they are good enough. They are indeed very light and I've had them on previous bikes with some noisy braking but decent performance otherwise. 149g for 160mm/140mm with titanium bolts.
IMG_0056.jpg

AnkitS
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Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:03 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

Hmmm I think your bolts are a little heavy. My 160/160 set on my MTB with bolts was 153g and iirc the 140mm is 10g lighter than the 160mm. Are you using the included bolts? There are some hollow ti bolts that are probably accounting for that difference. It's only ~7g but every gram counts for this build. :thumbup:

takolino
Posts: 340
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2016 9:11 am
Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

You got some very light ti bolts or maybe they are aluminum? Ashima makes a set that's about 7g. Mine are the Sram kit, solid ti and 14g for the set. The steel ones that came with the discs are 25g. I guess I could use aluminum bolts for the rear to save 3.5g but not feeling it for the front.

AnkitS
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Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

They are hollow ti from J&L. I think godzuki used some from RISK?? which were even lighter that mine. I don't think alloy bolts make sense for rotors.

takolino
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Location: USA, SF Bay Area

by takolino

Thanks for that detail. I found the J&L ones. Very light indeed, about 10.4 grams per set. I could not find the hollow RISK ones. I've bought their stem bolts but I can't get over their name choice lol. I may get these if I need to shave a few more grams to get to sub5.

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Kayrehn
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by Kayrehn

My Ashima Aineon 160/140 are 138g excluding bolts. No noise (haven't tried in wet weather yet) and being 'floating' rotors they should manage heat better if you want a change in the future.

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gSporco
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by gSporco

takolino wrote:
Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:21 am

Thought I'd share my experience with the Trickstuff C22 brakes.
Trickstuff makes powerful and lightweight brake calipers and levers for MTB mostly but they have the C21 caliper which comes in both post mount and flatmount so it will fit the Aethos... almost. More on that later. Lightweight and powerful sounded good.
You find all the cool kit Takolino.. I know, in your Strada post you mentioned light weight Pads.. Do these come with steel or alu backed pads? Obviously, if its steel backed you know you can shave another 10 grams per pad set with Alu backed pads. I am using Jagwire Yellow pads on my Sram Red and Force calipers and they are about -11 grams per pad set.

I have also noticed the Jagwire pads have performed really well in the wet and the cold.. They are less noisy and a bit thicker than stock pads for quicker engagment.
@gSporco - Instagram
Specialized Aethos
State All Road 6061
Retired Cervelo Aspero

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