Lefty Oil Service

Well I finally found the time to service the Lefty.

What I managed to do was:

• Replace as the air cylinder seals
• Replace the oil damper seals
• Change the oil in the damper
• Replace the lower boot
• Replace the air filter and upper boot
  
• Swap the existing spring (green) to a stronger spring (red)
• Replace the Air Cylinder Saddle

I did all the work with the Lefty off the bike, for the bike was a bit of a mess for a while, since I used the bike stand to hold the Lefty.

Unfortunately I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked, but that because my hands got progressively greasier, so it was a pain to keep cleaning my hands just to take a photo. Anyway, I had no idea what negative spring was installed on the front, which turned out to be green (soft). I planned to change that to a red (hard).

I removed the old lower boot and replaced it with a newer tapered style boot, so now there'll be no danger of the front 183mm rotor shredding the boot.

Next I removed the existing spring using the shaft clamp to prevent damage to the damper shaft.


Once I drained the damper things started to get messy, so the photos are lacking, but everything went fairly smoothly. Although I wasnt able to replace the inner seals on the damper top cap since I couldn't figure out the way to remove it. Also since the Lockout and rebound was working well I didn't want to mess with the mechanism.

Anyway, here's the end result with the Lefty back on the bike and the new boots in place.

Without the proper tools it would have been impossible. Although now having opened the Lefty up I actually like it even more.

I'll take it for a ride in the morning to see how it all feels.

Head badge

I've been off work a few days over the past week with a nasty cold. Although I'm glad it was this month rather than next month, as I'll be heading off to New Zealand for a 6 week vacation.

Anyway, I havent managed to do the work in the Lefty yet, but I started off with the easy part and replaced the black head tube decal with a modern metal one. It needed a bit of adjustment since the older headtubes don't taper in like the modern ones.

Lefty service parts

Well now I have everything to perform the service on the Lefty, after getting a delivery from Germany today.

Including some bits of Cannondale "flare", lanyard and bottle opener.

Prolong patch kits for the Lefty Multitool.

A Headshok Bullet for the rebuild and bearing reset tool.

4 packs of seals.

A new rebound adjuster dial and some spare cable guides.

A new Cannondale "C" logo for the headtube, which will probably need a little work to suit the KillerV headtube.

The Lefty Castle tool and shaft clamp.

And the negative spring kit, since I want to upgrade the Lefty with a harder spring.

Now all that's left is to perform the service which I'll start at the weekend. Should be interesting to document the procedure based on all the information I've gathered over the past few weeks. The only question mark I had was regarding the bullet, and thankfully as luck would have it a diagram was included with the tool.

Latest Photos

Things I'd still like to update on the bike:

• Update the crank from the old Coda Expert.
  
• Install the SI headset cups, I have them but just haven't had the time to install it.
• Have the Lefty serviced.
  

But here's the latest state of affairs:

Cannondale Foresite + Fullsite Ultra

Well winter is starting to creep in, with the increasing dark nights so I installed the lamps onto the bike.

I was out last night in the rain, and noticed the brakes squeal a bit in the wet, although it did calm down a bit after a while. But the lights were cheap and effective, they're the Cannondale Fullsite Ultra Lightset and a second Cannondale Foresite Ultra.

I like the balanced look of the twin front lamps and the rear lamp sits nicely below the seat post clamp.

Lefty Boots

Well I got my camera back from service so I can add a few updates again.

Well the new upper and lower boots arrived during the week so I'll be able to have them installed whenever I get the fork serviced. The new lower boot with the narrow bottom will work much better with the 183mm front disk.

Lefty Service...

It's been over a year since I had the Lefty serviced. So once the winter hits here, probably in a month of so, I'll leave the bike in to get the fork serviced.

Since I'm now running a 183mm rotor on the front, the lower boot on the left comes rather close to getting sliced up when the fork is heavily compressed. So I'll get a newer style lower boot installed at the same time.

Thanksfully I managed to source alot of the parts myself, some of which have been tricky to source, such as the replacement air valve cover that's at the bottom of the Lefty.

Just waiting on the new lower boot to arrive from Korea, of all places... ebaY is a handy thing at times.

Disk brake frame...

Many people think that disk brake Killer V's were never produced, but as I said before they were and are really are quite a rarity to find today. Although technically not a KillerV, the CAAD3 F900 and the CAAD4 F1000-F4000 frames in 1999 to 2001 in size small had a KillerV style frame...

Such as this one...

Forgotten photo...

I took some photos a few weeks back after I attached the final decal.

Only realised now since my camera had to go into service to get some "hot pixels" mapped out...

New seat and cover

Well I had to get rid of the cheap-ass seat and went for a Cannondale Seat.

Found one on eBay last week and it arrived today and looks rather cool with the Cannondale "C" on the side of it.

I'll get it on to the bike at the weekend,

And of course when sifting through the sea of crap that lingers on eBay, I also came across this little gem, an original nylon Cannondale Seat cover.

Oh and sorry for the crap quailty photos, as I explained in the previous mail the Pentax K10D is away for service and I'm relying on the low res camera phone...

Current specification

• Frame: 1998 Cannondale Killer V (Large)
• Fork: Cannondale Lefty DLR
• Headset: Cannondale HeadShok
  
• Stem: Cannondale HeadShok 80mm 6 degrees 31.8
• Handlebars: Deity Components DH/Street 2014 Bar Black PC 710mm - 50mm Rise - OS 31.8
• Grips: THE Vice LockOn Grips Black/Grey
• Brakeset: Avid Juicy Three with Brake Therapy Disc Adapter
• Front Rotor: Hope Disc Mono Mini/M4 Saw Disc Front 4-bolt 183mm
• Rear Rotor: Hope Disc Mono Mini/M4 Saw Disc Rear 6-bolt 160mm
• Front Derailleur: Shimano XT
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT
• Shifters: Shimano XT
• Rear Cogs: Shimano XT Cassette 9 Speed
• Chain: Shimano HG93
• Crank: Coda Expert 175mm
• Bottom Bracket: Shimano Octalink V1
  
• Chainrings: Coda Expert 44T/Coda Expert 32T/Blackspire 22T
• Pedals: Kore Race Platform Pedal - Sealed Bearing
• Rims: Halo ExciteD 26" 32H
• Front Hub: Coda Lefty
• Rear Hub: Shimano XT Black
• Spokes: DT Swiss Champion 2.0 Black
• Nipples: DT Swiss
• Rear Skewer: Brand-X Lightweight XC Allen Key Skewer Set
• Tyres: Schwalbe Nobby Nic Evolution 26x2.25
• Tubes: Nokian DH Tube
• Saddle: Selle Royal Mach
• Seat Post: Atomlab G.I. Seatpost 27.2/300mm

Saddle change

I'm thinking of finally getting rid of the cheap ass saddle at long last.

Not sure what to go for yet, naturally I'd prefer a Cannondale seat of some sort but I'll see what I find in the vast wasteland of eBay. Otherwise it's a trip to the LBS for something else.

Parts list

I keep meaning to list the components here but haven't got round to it yet due to my real job.

Probably have time at the weekend.

Flag decal in place

I previously had a Cannondale "C" logo there before sourcing the flag.

Of course this is much more "factory" looking.

The final touch

Most of the reproduction decal kits I've seen either don't come with the Handmade in the USA flag for the top tube, or those that do tend to have a solid colour as a background.

But I managed to find a source some from a guy in Canada that had a clear background that look pretty good.

Progress

Very little left to do. I rebuilt the front wheel again using 2mm DT spokes to match the rear wheel.





Finally the rear brake is spot on, having re-bled the system to remove a stubborn air bubble.

Kore Platform Pedals

The new pedals also arrived today. I definately prefer these pedals over the Shimanos.

Oh and a close up of the reproduction Lefty decal.

Changing the rear hose

Well the few last bits arrive today so I got to work installing and routing the rear brake hose.

I already had the Avid Juicy Bleed kit so it was a case of draining the brake and removing the old cable. The kit had everything required including almost all tools.

First thing I attached the new hose to the rear caliper and fed cable through the modified frame cable guides.

Then it was a simple case of cutting the hose to the correct length at the lever and installing the connectors.

Then the bleeding could begin. First the hose, then the caliper and finally the lever.

I've only ever bled brakes once before so I'm no expert, but I took the bike out for a short 1 mile ride to see how it felt.

Let's just say, I'll be bleeding it again in the morning...

But the bike itself felt really nice, I just have to adjust the seat back a little.