Paul Component Engineering is one of cycling’s legendary companies and 2016 finds them continuing to innovate and update their products.
The Funky Monkey:
First off is their popular Funky Monkey. The Funky Monkey is a simple, hanging housing stop for center pull and cantilever brakes. I’ve used similar parts before when fixing up an old bike, but Paul takes this seemingly simple to a whole new level with their renowned machining prowess.
The Funky Monkey is available in front and a rear version.
The front comes in a 1 1/8” and 1” sizes and features an extra-long arm that drops down to prevent brake cable housing from bending too tightly and binding up. The arm sticks out far enough to clear most headsets.
The rear has a hinged arm to self-align for the proper cable angle and has a 27.2mm that should fit many seat posts.
Both front and rear versions have a barrel adjuster to make brake cable adjustments quick and painless.
Technical Information:
Material: 6061 Aluminum
Weight: 29g
Finish: Anodized
Anodized Color: Black or Silver
Size: Front: 1-1⁄8″ or 1 Inch. Front: 27.2 mm
Thumbies:
I’ve used a couple of sets of Paul’s Thumbies when fixing up old bikes. Thumb shifters are an easy and economical option when adding gears to a bike and Thumbies make it easy to do the conversion. Never mind the fact that the old thumb shifters often offer much more precise and smooth shifting than some of the modern day counterparts.
Thumbies have a hinged clamp for an easy installation and fit handlebars with a diameter of 22.2mm or 31.8mm. The 22.2 models fit mountain bike handlebars and the 31.8 mount to the stem clamp area of a drop bar. The clamp is raised up to give clearance for hydraulic brake levers.
Thumbies are currently made to work with Shimano shifters only. They have a shifter mounting boss that fits Shimano bar end shifters and most Shimano downtube shifters.
Technical Information:
Material: 6061 Aluminum
Weight: 60g
Finish: Anodized or Polished
Anodized Color: Black or Silver
Clamp Size: 22.2 mm for MTB bars and 31.8 mm for road bars.
Disk Adaptors:
Here’s another piece that you always seem to need that’s never just hanging around in your spare parts bin: disk adaptors.
Whether you’re looking for IS or post mount, Paul’s got you covered with adaptors in sizes 140 through 203mm. Mount screws with thread lock already applied come with all adapters.
IS mounts are the type with the mounting screws that install horizontally. Paul makes them in +0, +20 and +40. Plus zero are for 160 front and 140 rear rotor sizes. To go bigger just add 20 0r 40mm. So a 180 front rotor will need a +20 and a 200 or 203 will need a +40. (160 plus 40 does not equal 203, but that’s ok).
The post mount versions work the same except the caliper mounts to frame or fork directly through the caliper holes. For 160 front and 140 rear, no adapters are needed. For bigger rotors, you will need the adapters.
Technical Information:
Material: Aluminum and Heat Treated Steel
Weight: +0 IS 24g
+20 IS 25g
+40 IS 35g
+20 Post Mount 30g
+40 Post Mount 31g
Finish: Anodized
Color: Black or Silver
Mount: IS or Post Mount
Bottle Opener:
Hey – Every home workshop needs a bottle opener, so you might as well get the coolest one out there. Paul’s version features a bottle opener on one end and a 15mm brake adjuster/rotor truing slot on the other, making it one handy tool.