'96 Rock Shox Judy DH refurbish (1 Viewer)

[Scott Parsley]

I got this fork back in '96 when I bought my Intense Spyder from Cambria. It was a great fork back then and offered many years of service until it was replaced by a Marzocchi Z1 and most recently (yes I still ride this bike) a '06 Fox Vanilla.

Fast forward 15 years and this Judy fork was still lurking around my garage along with 6 or 7 other forks that I can't seem to let go of. It needed a new life. It wanted to be put back in service. So I made it into a light. Yup. A light.



STP_0113 by Scott P., on Flickr


STP_0117 by Scott P., on Flickr

All in all I ended up using 16 individual parts from the Judy fork.


STP_0112 by Scott P., on Flickr


So I retired the old Night Rider and I've been using this light for 10 months. It basically kicks ##s. It has worked flawlessly so far on our weekly trail sessions. At some point I'll be using the damper cartridge to make a small helmet light as well. Here's a link to the photo set on Flickr.

"Judy" - a set on Flickr

I'll try and dig up the "beam shots" and post them too.

 

[Scott Parsley]

Beam shots from my backyard

 

[chachwick]

That is great! Particularly like the use of the compression and rebound knobs as switches. And the cross-section where the X-brace meets the lowers is gorgeous!

Good job. Two rings up, 9 cogs down, three snaps and a circlip!

 

[semlin]

nice work.

pretty sure you could sell those.

 

[mcewan13]

bad ass!
What did you use for the lighting componentry?

 

[Scott Parsley]

Thanks. Aside from my daughter and a few photos, this light could quite possible be my greatest achievement. I'm really proud of how it worked out.

As far as selling one of these goes, I wouldn't want to make another one if my life depended on it. It made my brain melt more than once. That's why I haven't moved forward with the helmet light..... Yet. Besides, you can get a brighter light that weighs a third as much and last twice as long for a few hundred bucks. I appreciate the sentiment though.

 

[Scott Parsley]

bad ass!
What did you use for the lighting componentry?

Each side has one-

-Luxdrive 1000ma constant current BuckPuck driver

-Cree XP-G (R5 bin) single LED on 20mm star

right side has a Regina reflector (awesometime)

left side has Carlco Med. frost (not as rad)

 

[bcart1991]

That's trick. If I send you parts from two old Judys, will you make me a couple lights? Heh.

 

[ednedesigns]

super cool.

these lights are a work of art. they remind me of the robot from the movie Short Circuit.

can you recommend a good site for info on diy LED and maybe a good source for components?

thanks.

 

[Scott Parsley]

these lights are a work of art. they remind me of the robot from the movie Short Circuit.

can you recommend a good site for info on diy LED and maybe a good source for components?

thanks.

Thank you. You're not the first person to think it looks like Number 5. The DIY light forum on MTBR.com is where I learned everything.

Lights DIY - Do It Yourself - Mountain Bike Review

I probably read a hundred threads for two months straight until I just couldn't absorb anymore information. I had to stop reading, and just go in the garage and build it. The forum is very active (and addictive). When I grabed the link just now there were 107 folks viewing the DIY light forum.

I got my stuff from here - LED : LEDs : LED Drivers : Cree LEDs : Luxeon LEDs : LUXdrive : LEDSupply

It seems like more builders go through suppliers in China because they have more product. I wanted to keep it simple and not wait two weeks to two months for my parts. So I went with LED supply.

Good luck. once you wrap your head around it it's not that difficult.

 

[TLC76]

Cool Gadgets at the Right Price - Worldwide Free Shipping - DealExtreme. Free shipping, if you're not in a hurry. What kind of battery life do you get?

 

[Scott Parsley]

Cool Gadgets at the Right Price - Worldwide Free Shipping - DealExtreme. Free shipping, if you're not in a hurry. What kind of battery life do you get?

It runs for 2:30 with both units on. I'm using a 7.2v NiMh RC pack. I'd go Lipo or Li-ion if I could have afforded a charger at the time but I just used what I had on hand. I don't really feel a need to change it now. NiMh batts. are cheap and I have a bad ass charger for my R/C stuff.