[tscheezy]

Ok, I'm a slave to my Hopeys. One of the real bummers when seeing the Pikes was that RS decided to shove a fat plug in the bottom of the steerer tubes with just a tiny 5mm threaded hole. To install a Hopey you need to be able to slide a 12mm socket in the lower end of the steerer tube to tighten the Hopey's expansion fixing wedges. I had to mill my 12mm down to get it in the bottom of my Z1 FR1, but there was no way I could get it in the Pike.

I decided to epoxy a 12mm 1/4"-drive socket to the Hopey fixing nut and so eliminate the need to insert anything fatter than the 1/4" socket extension into the fork from below. I bought a 6-sided 12mm socket and cut it down to the bare minimum size to save weight (22g total for the nut now), and JB Welded it on the Hopey's fixing nut:

The problem was that I only had a 6" extension, but needed one about 7" long, so I decided to make one. I bought a 12" drill bit extension for $5, cut the head off, and with a flat file I milled the end to the same size as a 1/4" socket head:

On the other end, I found a non-metric 1/4" drive socket I would not need that the shaft fit into, and glued it onto the other end of the saft to make a 10" long 1/4" socket extension:

The shaft was exactly 1/4" in diameter, so I had to enlarge the 5mm hole in the steerer tube's plug by a tiny bit which I did with a 1/4" drill bit. I then gave it a few passes with a round file so that the custom socket extension would slide smoothly:

Now with the Hopey in the steerer tube I just have to slide my socket extension up through the plug and I can snug the little booger down:

It's easy, umkay, children?

 

[DoubleDown]

Damn, now that's a man that loves his Hopey.

Nice work TS!

 

[tscheezy]

I can still mount a fender by using a drywall expansion insert wrapped in hockey stick friction tape shoved in the hole and expanded with a wood screw which also holds the fender. Living in the Alaskan Bush teaches you a few things (I mean aside from living with dingleberries).

 

[Acadian]

Damn, now that's a man that loves his Hopey.

Nice work TS!

hahaha...I was going to say the same!!

I consider myself a very crafty - but that takes the cake!! nice work TS!

PS: I also liked the Hopey when I tried one (before it ovalized my HT) - not sure if I'll ever use one again tho.

 

[bikerx40]

Dang! I'm going to send you an assortment of 1/4" drive extensions! You have way more patience that I would ever have. I would have bought the extensions online and had them Next Day air shipped.

Alright, better get back to extruding my own rims with my Christmas cookie press...

 

[Eric.]

Nice work!

Them danged dampers are habit forming, eh?
I was thinking of maybe getting Hopey to make a 5mm allen instead of the 12mm bolt, then use an old Manitou jumbo allen wrench to tighten it down. Funny how necessary those things become once you're used to them.
Good McGuyvering!
On a side note, is that a Heim chain guide you're running, and if so, how's that working out?

 

[AK Chris]

I have a few hopey questions for you guys. I've been to their site and admittedly I'm curious about them so its one of the reasons I bought the Pike. Is it THAT big of a difference between a bike without one? When I say that big, I mean worth the $230 difference? I mean does it really give you more control when it gets rough and are you less fatigued when you ridde with one? Also, since some of it sits behind the stem, ever had a crash where the hopey met the willy? It just looks like a mess waiting to happen. I'm a fan of innovation, hence the Mav and previously the Lefty, but with that I'm also a slave to proprietary stuff. But this doesn't seem that far out there. It does look interesting though.

 

[Jdub]

I have a few hopey questions for you guys. I've been to their site and admittedly I'm curious about them so its one of the reasons I bought the Pike. Is it THAT big of a difference between a bike without one? When I say that big, I mean worth the $230 difference? I mean does it really give you more control when it gets rough and are you less fatigued when you ridde with one? Also, since some of it sits behind the stem, ever had a crash where the hopey met the willy? It just looks like a mess waiting to happen. I'm a fan of innovation, hence the Mav and previously the Lefty, but with that I'm also a slave to proprietary stuff. But this doesn't seem that far out there. It does look interesting though.

I used to have one back when I raced motocross (younger and thinner), and for that it made a world of difference, but I haven't ever put one on my bike.

Evidentally they made a big impression on T though...

 

[tscheezy]

It tends to neutralize whatever unwanted steering effects the fork brings to the bike. It slows down a nervous too-steep HA, but it will also make "wheel flop" from a too-shallow HA much less noticeable. Funny how it can do both.

When you are riding along, you tend to weave up the trail. You think it is because you are steering to maintain balance, but once you slap the Hopey on and get used to it and realize you are going in a much straighter line you recognize that the weaving was serving no purpose. The same is true on the flats and downhills. It's not like you can bomb down a hill with your hands off the bars reading a magazine, but it does help. I think it reduces unwanted rider input more than unwanted terrain input, personally.

I could live without one. Back when I was considering a Mav and new I'd have to dump the Hopey for it I spent some time with the damper turned off (you can infinitely adjust damping effect via the knob on top). After a day I was used to normal handling again. It takes a bit of adjustment going back and forth. Once it is on one bike however, you need them on all bikes. Undamped bikes just feel twitchy otherwise.

I have crashed hard with it where the bars spun and rotated the damper around the headset. I just rotated it back. I have never smacked myself on it. In fact I have done WAY more damage to myself in the brief period I have spent riding a Mav fork (knee? Meet DC) then I ever did on the Hopey. Bad luck perhaps. If you are cracking your nuts on the Hopey they would have hit the stem anyway.

They are expensive toys. Not necessary, but I like em.

On the Heim question, scroll about halfway down this thread.

 

[cutthroat]

NIce problem solving there Tscheez! I'm gonna start calling you McGyver. Gotta go now - I'm gonna make a rear shock out of an old PBR can, duct tape, a Fog Hat 8 track tape and a big wad of well chewed Double Bubble. Pics will follow

 

[bill]

Is the JB weld strong enough?....

I have had to tighten the fixing bolt pretty tight to keep mine from coming loose. I would think brazing would do the trick if the JB fails.

bill

 

[Bikezilla]

Man, that's excellent handywork Tsc!

I suppose if the JBweld were to seperate after you've installed the Hopey, the steerer tube is narrow enough to keep the socket aligned, so you can just push it back up and turn it until it meshes with the nut, and back the whole thing out.

Hmmm, I'm thinking those Hopey's would be nice for riding along trunks and skinnies

 

[tscheezy]

JB Weld is more than up to the task. Way more...

 

[shanedawg]

I have had to tighten the fixing bolt pretty tight to keep mine from coming loose. I would think brazing would do the trick if the JB fails.

bill

Is JB weld strong [email protected]#$#@% Does a bear sh1t in the woods?

 

[Steve71]

Really nice work there Tscheezy.

After many many months of using my hopey I finally realized that the Damper was slipping inside the steerer tube when I tightened the 35mm nut. Seemed like no matter what I did, the dam thing would slip and after a few rides, I'd have a creaking head tube. Oddly enough, the hopey's on my wife's bike didn't have this problem....

So now I use a threaded rod to snug everything down, then tighten the stem and install the Hopey. Something that I guess you couldn't do with the pike..... But I'm sure you'd figure out a way.

 

[tscheezy]

I do that too (I mean, on my other bikes). I really don't like to use the Hopey to set the headset preload. I use an Azonic headlock to get the stem all set and reefed down, then I take the Azonic out and pop the Hopey in. I have the standard length Headlock which is too short to stick out the bottom of the Pike, but the DH model would be long enough. I may just have to get one...

 

[Steve71]

I do that too (I mean, on my other bikes). I really don't like to use the Hopey to set the headset preload. I use an Azonic headlock to get the stem all set and reefed down, then I take the Azonic out and pop the Hopey in. I have the standard length Headlock which is too short to stick out the bottom of the Pike, but the DH model would be long enough. I may just have to get one...

Man, you think of everything!

 

[tscheezy]

Speedub.Nate's Hopey post on the DH/FR board spurred me to put new pics back into this thread... Here goes:

To install a Hopey on forks with steerer tube plugs, try this...

I decided to epoxy a 12mm 1/4"-drive socket to the Hopey fixing nut and so eliminate the need to insert anything fatter than the 1/4" socket extension into the fork from below. I bought a 6-sided 12mm socket and cut it down to the bare minimum size to save weight (22g total for the nut now), and JB Welded it on the Hopey's fixing nut:

The problem was that I only had a 6" extension, but needed one about 7" long, so I decided to make one. I bought a 12" drill bit extension for $5, cut the head off, and with a flat file I milled the end to the same size as a 1/4" socket head. On the other end, I found a non-metric 1/4" drive socket I would not need that the shaft fit into, and glued it onto the other end of the saft to make a 10" long 1/4" socket extension:

The shaft was exactly 1/4" in diameter, so I had to enlarge the 5mm hole in the steerer tube's plug by a tiny bit which I did with a 1/4" drill bit. I then gave it a few passes with a round file so that the custom socket extension would slide smoothly:

Now with the Hopey in the steerer tube I just have to slide my socket extension up through the plug and I can snug the little booger down:

It's easy, umkay, children?

 

[Steve71]

I was just on the phone with Tim Hopey and asked him if he had a new bolt in the works that would work with the Pike/36 forks. He said a lot of people were asking the same thing and he was looking at getting some 5 or 6 mm hex bolts ordered in the next month or so.

Tim also said that the damper accepts a 7/16 20 TPI bolt. So if you could find one with a 5 mm hex bolt head...... you'd also need a very long 5mm hex wrench.

 

[Tavinho]

Just like all of you, I own both a Hopey Damper and a RS Pike fork, and I'd like to share another approach:

Based on all the ideas exposed on this thread, I decided to do something a little bit different, in such way that drilling the fork crown becomes unnecessary and, at the same time, the damper fixing nut could be tightened either using a 12mm socket or a 4mm Allen wrench (just in case that I change to a non-plugged fork in the future)

Basically, all I needed was a 5/32" drill bit, a 5mm x 1/2" Allen bolt (it's a 4mm Allen head bolt), a 5mm plug tap set, a plug tap handlebar, a drill and some Loctite 271 (High Strength Threadlocker). Those are the steps that I followed to mod the fixing nut:

1. Drill a bigger hole in the damper fixing nut (it already has one, 3mm diameter or so), using a 5/32" drill bit.

2. Then, thread the fixing nut hole using the 5mm plug tap

3. Put some Loctite, and assembly both the nut and the Allen bolt, and that's it.

Considering both the damper and Allen wrench lengths, this solution would work with steering tubes up to 8". For longer steering tubes, a longer Allen wrench would be needed.