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Attic What IZIT #52 |
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The Attic -
Attic What IZIT
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 #52
 Once a must have addition to any high-end mountain bike, and it is Purple! The winning answer will include the Make, Model and Functionality of the item. Personal experience is worth big bonus points. The winner will receive a $10 Bikeman Gift Certificate.
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A very popular edition, or maybe too easy. Great to see all of the creative answers and almost everyone knew the correct function of the part. Here is the winner and the runners up (in no particular order)
WINNER - David Bullaro: "'Tis an SRP Aluminum Mounting bolt for Suntour rear derailleurs. SRP maker of all things excessive in the '90's made an aluminum bolt for your rear derailleurs. This was 'cause many of us rode on bike that didn't have replacable derailleur hanger but as we became more Rad we were doing things that began to shear off our derailleur hangers from the frame requiring a new frame. The solution over time was to make replaceable derailleur hangers that would snap off at the slightest inconvience so that you could be stranded inconviently but at least you didn't need to get a new frame!! SRP made a stop gap to fill the void between steel and aluminum frames with no replaceable derailleur and the current situation. These were noted to shear with shifting issues but they came in 3D violet so we all had them. Nary a ride would go by when you wouldn't pass some dude at the side of a trail that had shifted his rear derailleur off and was holding a cool 3DV bolt end in his hand. They were so break prone some of us carried a spare in our bags with our tubes.
RUNNER UP - Telford Crisco: "That is a SRP break away aluminum mounting bolt for a Shimano rear derailleur circa 1992 or so. The bolt was designed as a direct replacement for the Shimano chromed steel bolt. The SRP version is machined from aluminum and is designed to break off in a hard impact or when a big stick gets caught in the chain, to avoid damage to the frame (e.g. bending or breaking the derailleur hanger). The notch on the bolt is for an O-ring that seals out gunk between the bolt and the neck of the derailleur. The SRP bolt also saves about 13 grams over its Shimano counterpart. Best of all, like most after market parts in the early nineties, it was available in a rainbow assortment of fruit flavors. I ended up adding one of these to my 1992 XTR rear derailleur after I crashed and bent the hanger on my Specialized M2 Ned Overend replica. I was able to straighten the bent hanger, but wasn't taking any chances on having to do it again (luckily the frame got replaced under warrantee a couple of !
months later as the paint wasn't sticking to metal matrix). Eventually, smart frame builders started building frames with replaceable hangers to solve the same problem addressed by this part. The SRP aluminum bolt was also available to fit SunTour derailleurs (only had one notch) and was also made in a titanium version (which was not designed to break away)."
RUNNER UP - Ross Williams: "This looks like a Specialty Racing Products (SRP) purple anodized aluminum rear derailleur pivot bolt. I had a blue version on my old 1996 cromoly GT Rebound (before the Rebound went aluminum). Before replaceable derailleur hangers, the hanger was built into the frame. Steel Shimano pivot bolts would not break away in the event of a crash, so the derailleur hanger would bend - a lot of guys got good at straightening these things out. Well, along came SRP with all their anodized goodies, so those of us who had upgraded just about everything else could now start upgrading BOLTS! I installed one of these along with some chainring bolts, but it never got put to the test - it is still on the bike (now ridden by my 62 year old father) to this day."
RUNNER UP - John Rad: "Soooo Realllly... Pleaaasee.... What could it be?
Well after you lay down all that cash for that Fancy XTR rear and that super pimpy Titanium frame and go for your first ride on that great single track and your front tire slides out and BRONNWWINK you slide on the drive side of your bike. see a mangled pile of metal hanging from the back of your bike. You can't make out what is what. Who know's what is ruined. And now lets go back before the your ride. You buy one of these Anodized Aluminum Rear Derailleur Break Away bolt. This one looks like an SRP if so it would have laser etched SRP on the outside. Now lets go back to our little spill in progress. Now you here a BRINK and see that this little aluminum bolt has sheared and all of your precious metals are intact. But you still have to walk your bike out."
RUNNER UP - Eric: "That is an SRP aluminum rear derailleur. It served to lighten the bike (shaved approximately 15 grams) and save the rear derailleur hanger as it would shear/break off if the derailleur was put under enough force. I was somewhat concerned as I was a bike mechanic at the time and I saw a few bikes come in where these bolts had sheared off. I always wondered if the force on the derailleur was so high it would have damaged the hanger, or if the riders were forced to walk out of woods unnecessarily. I thought that if I installed one on my bike, I would make sure to always carry a spare (so then I would only save 10g total)."
RUNNER UP - Eddie Plantilla: "Ooh - O think I still have one of these in the parts bin! A break-away mounting bolt for a rear derailleur, these were made of aluminum instead of steel, ostensibly to shear upon impact before the derailleur hanger got totally fragged, but also to lighten up the rig and add some 3D violet to match the pulleys and cable end caps of the derailleur. Judging by the color, it may very well have been made by the mid-90's leder of aftermarket bolt upgrades, Specialty Racing Products (SRP), but without seeing the bolt head, it's difficult to tell."
RUNNER UP - Chris Marenghi: "SRP breakaway rear deraileur mounting bolt. All the way hardcore shredders used'em back in the early 90's. The bolt was designed with a scored area to shear under sudden impact and/or stress thereby preventing damage to your new fangled XTR rear deraileur(which I purchased from Bikeman in 1993 and still use today) I, being a wannabe way hardcore shredder used one of these bolts on my Wicked Fat Chance."
RUNNER UP - Anthony: "That's an SRP (Specialty Racing Products)derailleur mounting break away bolt! Nice 3-D Violet color as well. The idea was that you replaced your derailleur mounting/pivot bolt with this; then when you hit a rock with the rear mech, the bolt snapped at the skinny part, saving your (non-replaceable) derailleur hanger. Big item on lots of early MTB's without replaceable hangers."
RUNNER UP - Brandan Dee: "That looks like a SRP break away bolt. A lifesacer if you rode an aluminum frame without a replaceable hanger. One of those purple jobbies saved my '95 Schwinn Homegrown (red with the black darts) from the recycling bin. I still have a spare blue break away bolt in the parts bin in case I pick up a Spooky, or something else from back in the days of living dangerously."
RUNNERUP - Chris Green: "So many of choices... SRP-no, thats the Breakway bolt with three distinct sections so you could replace 'just' the part you broke. Pauls made some similiar to the one shown, but I belive that is a Accent breakaway bolt. I can't be 100% sure, but I think QBP was the distibutor back in the day... (when you're 31, 7-10 years ago IS back in the day...) Purple was just the beginning. You could get any color of the rainbow. Buying it was easy, installing it in the derailleur was another story. You took your derailleur off the bike, unscrewed the stop screw off the cage (being carfeul not to bust your knuckles--at least thats what I heard, but it never happened to me :) and took off the clip holding the spring into the P-knuckle. This did give you an opportunity to tighten the cage tension slightly as there were two spring positions. Transfer the o-ring from the old bolt and reinstall in the reverse order. Extra credit if you used Phil."
RUNNER UP - Harry: "Ah - a breakaway rear derailleur bolt from the purple anno era. Who knows, maybe it came off of Tinker Juarez' bike. I don't think anyone ran more purple parts than he did. I believe that it's a Ringle bolt. I never gave in to the purple craze, but I do remember snapping a few rear derailleurs and wishing that I had a break away bolt. Luckily it was pretty simple to cold-set a chromoly derailleur hanger."
RUNNER UP - John Nigri: "The bolt from hell! I had one of these on my S Works M2 and it broke about five miles from home! I knew at that point I would never want a singlespeed(no offenese)! It is a TNT bolt made to break off before your deraileur does any damage to your hanger on your frame. I had to have the purple one to match my ringle superbubba front hub!"
RUNNER UP - Steve Frothingham: "That would be an SRP alloy rear derailleur bolt. It was made of aluminum so it (instead of the frame) would break if you snagged the rear derailleur. I guess they lost popularity when aluminum frame makers started using replaceable dropouts. Mostly, they just looked cool. I don't have any personal experience except that I think I still have one in my cellar that fits SACHS Quarz rear derailleurs, if you know anyone that needs it."
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