[GB] DSA LightCycle (again) - Shipping 100% complete

[FearsomeCubedWarrior]

~

[yokken]

Got my shipping confirmation as well, should get here hopefully just a few days before the M65-A. Yesssss Evan you rock

[zslane]

The cappening photos from all of us should be epic. 

[Valzaan]

Any word on when extras will be hitting the shop? I have been checking a couple of times a day. I am really hoping to get an MX Base set of these. I am so envious of everyone in this drop.

[evangs]

Any word on when extras will be hitting the shop? I have been checking a couple of times a day. I am really hoping to get an MX Base set of these. I am so envious of everyone in this drop.

It will be after I get all the orders out. I will be sending out an email on my newsletter when they are available

[bmmcwhirt]

I present to you...     DSA Lightcycle installed on a ps2avrGB board.













EDIT: not sure why the images are not loading inline or at least nor for me. If you click they will show up I'll work on fixing that.

EDIT: Fixed, didnt like using the google short names for some reason.

[smittysteve]

I present to you...     DSA Lightcycle installed on a ps2avrGB board.

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Noooo.... you tease!! Pic links show broken for me. I need to see come 'cycle in the wild!! (Fix, please and thank you?)

edit: clicked through... looks awesome on the board!! Thanks for sharing.

[Blazestorm]

I present to you...     DSA Lightcycle installed on a ps2avrGB board.

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EDIT: not sure why the images are not loading inline or at least nor for me. If you click they will show up I'll work on fixing that.

EDIT: Fixed, didnt like using the google short names for some reason.

Looks good, your '\|' key is upside down though! =)

I got a shipping notification, not sure if it's both sets or just 1 (I ordered Alps then added MX a week later)

Still gotta build my boards for Alps to fit, although I might stick the MX set on my Norbatouch (Brushed Blue case)

[bmmcwhirt]

I present to you...     DSA Lightcycle installed on a ps2avrGB board.

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EDIT: not sure why the images are not loading inline or at least nor for me. If you click they will show up I'll work on fixing that.

EDIT: Fixed, didnt like using the google short names for some reason.

Looks good, your '\|' key is upside down though! =)

I got a shipping notification, not sure if it's both sets or just 1 (I ordered Alps then added MX a week later)

Still gotta build my boards for Alps to fit, although I might stick the MX set on my Norbatouch (Brushed Blue case)

Good Call, never fails there is always one key I'll mess up.

[yokken]

Imgur compressed this to hell and back, so I uploaded it here. Please excuse the poor quality, it's overcast so the light isn't great and the shadows/highlights make it really difficult to show the colors of the set accurately, especially with the gray throwing off white balance. But that said... here's LightCycle on the Titan Grey TX-CP.

[ac2531]

I present to you...     DSA Lightcycle installed on a ps2avrGB board.

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EDIT: not sure why the images are not loading inline or at least nor for me. If you click they will show up I'll work on fixing that.

EDIT: Fixed, didnt like using the google short names for some reason.

Here I am, furiously refreshing my Gmail tab to see if I've gotten a shipping notification, and you've already got your caps...something, something, patience is a virtue, blah, blah...

Your board looks great!

[zslane]

Imgur compressed this to hell and back, so I uploaded it here. Please excuse the poor quality, it's overcast so the light isn't great and the shadows/highlights make it really difficult to show the colors of the set accurately, especially with the gray throwing off white balance. But that said... here's LightCycle on the Titan Grey TX-CP.

That looks simply awesome, yokken. Well done! 

[jKaw]

Received my keyset! I'm loving the colors in person. Waiting for the keyboard to arrive first. But sadly the girlfriend will be hounding this set off me. Gotta enjoy looking at it while I can.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[evangs]

Here I am, furiously refreshing my Gmail tab to see if I've gotten a shipping notification, and you've already got your caps...something, something, patience is a virtue, blah, blah...

Your board looks great!

I'll be packing a bunch more orders tonight, goal is to have 100% shipped by tomorrow night

[Sparkyman215]

I'll be packing a bunch more orders tonight, goal is to have 100% shipped by tomorrow night

 

Awesome! Thanks so much

[kawasaki161]

Here I am, furiously refreshing my Gmail tab to see if I've gotten a shipping notification, and you've already got your caps...something, something, patience is a virtue, blah, blah...

Your board looks great!

I'll be packing a bunch more orders tonight, goal is to have 100% shipped by tomorrow night

Can't wait to get the letter from the customs office telling me to come pick it up because they, again, were too lazy to do the work themselves and have me drive to the other end of the city, because of their incompetence, stealing 2-4 hours of my time. 

[kawasaki161]

Just got my shipping notification. Also remembered that I've got a Bananasplit on order.
According to tracking this wasn't picked up yet, if that's the case, can you put it on hold and ship it together with the Bananasplit? That would save me a whole trip to the customs office which is, like I said, at the other end of the city.
If it's too late it can't be helped ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[evangs]

Just got my shipping notification. Also remembered that I've got a Bananasplit on order.
According to tracking this wasn't picked up yet, if that's the case, can you put it on hold and ship it together with the Bananasplit? That would save me a whole trip to the customs office which is, like I said, at the other end of the city.
If it's too late it can't be helped ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It it's not picked up by USPS when I get home I can give it a shot, but it's pretty likely they will have swung by before I get home.

[zslane]

Well, I was hoping to post a photo of my KPB V60 mini with my shiny new LightCycle DSA keycaps installed, but the whole process was an unmitigated disaster. I wasn't inclined to buy another Alps/Matias-based keyboard before this debacle, but I am adamant about avoiding them now.

I may be able to salvage it a little, but the stabilized keys will forever have reduced key travel thanks to the minor incompatibility between MX stab inserts and Matias stab wires. Had I known they would bind the way they do, I would have tried to bend the stab wires a bit ahead of time to ease matters, but there's no fixing that now. You can't remove these keycaps once they are installed (the stem will simply break off from the inside of the keycap before the keycap will ever come free from the switch).

Case in point: the "U" key stem bent/broke while I was trying to install it, and I had to glue it back into place. Hopefully it will still work after the glue has solidified. Also, one of the 1.25u Recognizers broke from its stem completely when I tried to remove the key, so now I have to try and glue it to the bit of stem that is forever stuck in the switch slider.

I knew going into this that I'd never be able to remove the keycaps once they were installed, but I didn't think I'd need to even try. I shouldn't have tried with that Recognizer keycap and I've paid the price.

Lastly, I didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that the first DIP switch on the board is covered/inaccessible once placed into the Lambo case. The access port for the DIP switches is designed for five or fewer switches, not six, and naturally the one I need to change can't be reached. So I need to remove the board from the case so I can flip that switch (I need the Caps Lock key to become an FN key), and so I can better align the board in the case. Currently, it is too close to the left side, posing binding problems for keys like that 1.25u Recognizer key in the Ctrl position. Of course, it is very difficult getting to the tiny screws because the keycaps are in the way, so re-casing may work out or it may not.

What a mess...

[kawasaki161]

Just got my shipping notification. Also remembered that I've got a Bananasplit on order.
According to tracking this wasn't picked up yet, if that's the case, can you put it on hold and ship it together with the Bananasplit? That would save me a whole trip to the customs office which is, like I said, at the other end of the city.
If it's too late it can't be helped ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It it's not picked up by USPS when I get home I can give it a shot, but it's pretty likely they will have swung by before I get home.

Even if they already picked it up, thanks for your effort.

[evangs]

Well, I was hoping to post a photo of my KPB V60 mini with my shiny new LightCycle DSA keycaps installed, but the whole process was an unmitigated disaster. I wasn't inclined to buy another Alps/Matias-based keyboard before this debacle, but I am adamant about avoiding them now.

I may be able to salvage it a little, but the stabilized keys will forever have reduced key travel thanks to the minor incompatibility between MX stab inserts and Matias stab wires. Had I known they would bind the way they do, I would have tried to bend the stab wires a bit ahead of time to ease matters, but there's no fixing that now. You can't remove these keycaps once they are installed (the stem will simply break off from the inside of the keycap before the keycap will ever come free from the switch).

Case in point: the "U" key stem bent/broke while I was trying to install it, and I had to glue it back into place. Hopefully it will still work after the glue has solidified. Also, one of the 1.25u Recognizers broke from its stem completely when I tried to remove the key, so now I have to try and glue it to the bit of stem that is forever stuck in the switch slider.

I knew going into this that I'd never be able to remove the keycaps once they were installed, but I didn't think I'd need to even try. I shouldn't have tried with that Recognizer keycap and I've paid the price.

Lastly, I didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that the first DIP switch on the board is covered/inaccessible once placed into the Lambo case. The access port for the DIP switches is designed for five or fewer switches, not six, and naturally the one I need to change can't be reached. So I need to remove the board from the case so I can flip that switch (I need the Caps Lock key to become an FN key), and so I can better align the board in the case. Currently, it is too close to the left side, posing binding problems for keys like that 1.25u Recognizer key in the Ctrl position. Of course, it is very difficult getting to the tiny screws because the keycaps are in the way, so re-casing may work out or it may not.

What a mess...

this sounds awful. I had to remove a cap after I had attached it and going very slowly I was able to without breaking it, but I went in with the expectation to not remove them. I may have an extra set I can send you after the rest of the orders go out. Double shot alps keys probably isn't the best idea as it seems there isn't enough strength on the stem. This as well as similar reports from the MiniVan only set has me seriously considering not running the alps set again on round 2

[zslane]

I appreciate the offer! The only key that might need replacing is the "U" key (if my repair job isn't strong enough to survive insertion into the switch slider). The 1.25u Recognizer is strictly a glue-on job at this point since there is an irremovable piece of stem stuck in the switch, so having a replacement keycap wouldn't help.

[evangs]

I appreciate the offer! The only key that might need replacing is the "U" key (if my repair job isn't strong enough to survive insertion into the switch slider). The 1.25u Recognizer is strictly a glue-on job at this point since there is an irremovable piece of stem stuck in the switch, so having a replacement keycap wouldn't help.

alright, well keep me posted on the repair.

[Blazestorm]

You just have to go in with the knowledge that you have to mod the stems from SP. There's no way around it right now, until SP creates a new stem mold that fits Matias switches better. I checked the new Matias batch w/ my 40% Lightcycle and it was super tight, so I didn't force it.

What I saw w/ AEK caps is the stem is more like an octagon than a rectangle, so the corners are trimmed in a bit. That's my plan for these sets... just shave off the corner a bit.

[pixelpusher]

So do you guys think if we shave off of the corners a decent amount that we'll have better success with the alps caps?  I haven't received my shipping notice yet, but I should probably look at selling these off on r/mm if you think modding won't help.

[evangs]

So do you guys think if we shave off of the corners a decent amount that we'll have better success with the alps caps?  I haven't received my shipping notice yet, but I should probably look at selling these off on r/mm if you think modding won't help.

only if you need to remove them. I also realized they are talking about matias switches. I have my alps caps on old alps switches and didn't have issues pushing them in so they may not be as tight. If you are dealing with Matias then you may want to try shaving them down, but if that is too scary then yeah you might just want to sell them :/

[pixelpusher]

So do you guys think if we shave off of the corners a decent amount that we'll have better success with the alps caps?  I haven't received my shipping notice yet, but I should probably look at selling these off on r/mm if you think modding won't help.

only if you need to remove them. I also realized they are talking about matias switches. I have my alps caps on old alps switches and didn't have issues pushing them in so they may not be as tight. If you are dealing with Matias then you may want to try shaving them down, but if that is too scary then yeah you might just want to sell them :/

Okay, I'm totally down for modding them if that will do the trick.  I probably only need to remove them for reasons like evagns said... recasing or fixing stabilizers.  So, is there a guide anywhere to how people are shaving them?  Is it just the scraping the corners with an xacto?

If no one is sure, I wouldn't mind picking up some white Alps and just swapping out the matias switches in my V60.  However, I've never looked into buying alps (past matias), so I'm not sure where to source them.  Ideas?

[evangs]

So do you guys think if we shave off of the corners a decent amount that we'll have better success with the alps caps?  I haven't received my shipping notice yet, but I should probably look at selling these off on r/mm if you think modding won't help.

only if you need to remove them. I also realized they are talking about matias switches. I have my alps caps on old alps switches and didn't have issues pushing them in so they may not be as tight. If you are dealing with Matias then you may want to try shaving them down, but if that is too scary then yeah you might just want to sell them :/

Okay, I'm totally down for modding them if that will do the trick.  I probably only need to remove them for reasons like evagns said... recasing or fixing stabilizers.  So, is there a guide anywhere to how people are shaving them?  Is it just the scraping the corners with an xacto?

If no one is sure, I wouldn't mind picking up some white Alps and just swapping out the matias switches in my V60.  However, I've never looked into buying alps (past matias), so I'm not sure where to source them.  Ideas?

vintage boards. deskthority has a good listing of what boards to look for. they are getting harder and hard to source though. black alps from old dell boards are probably the easiest to find.

[Kavik]

Well, I was hoping to post a photo of my KPB V60 mini with my shiny new LightCycle DSA keycaps installed, but the whole process was an unmitigated disaster. I wasn't inclined to buy another Alps/Matias-based keyboard before this debacle, but I am adamant about avoiding them now.

I may be able to salvage it a little, but the stabilized keys will forever have reduced key travel thanks to the minor incompatibility between MX stab inserts and Matias stab wires. Had I known they would bind the way they do, I would have tried to bend the stab wires a bit ahead of time to ease matters, but there's no fixing that now. You can't remove these keycaps once they are installed (the stem will simply break off from the inside of the keycap before the keycap will ever come free from the switch).

Case in point: the "U" key stem bent/broke while I was trying to install it, and I had to glue it back into place. Hopefully it will still work after the glue has solidified. Also, one of the 1.25u Recognizers broke from its stem completely when I tried to remove the key, so now I have to try and glue it to the bit of stem that is forever stuck in the switch slider.

I knew going into this that I'd never be able to remove the keycaps once they were installed, but I didn't think I'd need to even try. I shouldn't have tried with that Recognizer keycap and I've paid the price.

Lastly, I didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that the first DIP switch on the board is covered/inaccessible once placed into the Lambo case. The access port for the DIP switches is designed for five or fewer switches, not six, and naturally the one I need to change can't be reached. So I need to remove the board from the case so I can flip that switch (I need the Caps Lock key to become an FN key), and so I can better align the board in the case. Currently, it is too close to the left side, posing binding problems for keys like that 1.25u Recognizer key in the Ctrl position. Of course, it is very difficult getting to the tiny screws because the keycaps are in the way, so re-casing may work out or it may not.

What a mess...

That is disheartening. I am going to be putting mine on a KBP V80. I had planned on shaving the stems just to be on the safe side. Would taking cherry stab wires from a donor board prevent the other problem, you reckon? I have a board or two I could borrow from if needed.

[eksuen]

So do you guys think if we shave off of the corners a decent amount that we'll have better success with the alps caps?  I haven't received my shipping notice yet, but I should probably look at selling these off on r/mm if you think modding won't help.

only if you need to remove them. I also realized they are talking about matias switches. I have my alps caps on old alps switches and didn't have issues pushing them in so they may not be as tight. If you are dealing with Matias then you may want to try shaving them down, but if that is too scary then yeah you might just want to sell them :/

Okay, I'm totally down for modding them if that will do the trick.  I probably only need to remove them for reasons like evagns said... recasing or fixing stabilizers.  So, is there a guide anywhere to how people are shaving them?  Is it just the scraping the corners with an xacto?

If no one is sure, I wouldn't mind picking up some white Alps and just swapping out the matias switches in my V60.  However, I've never looked into buying alps (past matias), so I'm not sure where to source them.  Ideas?

Shaving the SP stems to fit into Matias switches was heavily discussed in the Alpine Winter thread as well as as on the first two or three pages of this thread. Here's my post from the first page.

2. I don't know what the correct terminology is but there is supposed to be extra "crap" that needs to be removed with an exacto knife on the stem.  Do you (or anyone) have pictures of what exactly needs to be cut from the stem?

I have the Alpine Winter set, which is an Alps set also made by SP. There isn't "extra" material. It's just that the Alps stems that come out of SP's molds fit really tightly in Matias switches. If you never plan to remove the caps once installed, you will not have to shave the corners. If you want to be able to remove the caps without risking damage to the caps or switches, you should shave the corners of the stems prior to installing the caps. All you have to do is take a blade and run it along the corners of the stem a few times so the corners become a bit "rounded".

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Removing material from the corners will allow the caps to be installed and removed more easily. The degree of ease depends on how much you shave off the stems. Be wary though, if you shave off too much, the caps can come off quite easily. None of my caps will fall off if I flip my board upside down, but for better or worse, some of them can be removed with very little effort. It's possible that some might say they aren't tight enough, so just a word of caution.

[zslane]

You might try normal MX stab wires, but they may not fit. I think they might be too thick for one thing. And they definitely won't fit the 2.75u Shift key. For that key I didn't even use a stab wire at all (I don't use that key so it doesn't really matter).

[eksuen]

You might try normal MX stab wires, but they may not fit. I think they might be too thick for one thing. And they definitely won't fit the 2.75u Shift key. For that key I didn't even use a stab wire at all (I don't use that key so it doesn't really matter).

I had a V60MTS and I ended up bending the existing wire to fit the stab positions on the SP caps. I also filed down the stab wire holder a little to give the wire a little more clearance since it was bent to an acute angle.

[pixelpusher]

You might try normal MX stab wires, but they may not fit. I think they might be too thick for one thing. And they definitely won't fit the 2.75u Shift key. For that key I didn't even use a stab wire at all (I don't use that key so it doesn't really matter).

I had a V60MTS and I ended up bending the existing wire to fit the stab positions on the SP caps. I also filed down the stab wire holder a little to give the wire a little more clearance since it was bent to an acute angle.

So how does DSA feel on the Matias switches?

[eksuen]

You might try normal MX stab wires, but they may not fit. I think they might be too thick for one thing. And they definitely won't fit the 2.75u Shift key. For that key I didn't even use a stab wire at all (I don't use that key so it doesn't really matter).

I had a V60MTS and I ended up bending the existing wire to fit the stab positions on the SP caps. I also filed down the stab wire holder a little to give the wire a little more clearance since it was bent to an acute angle.

So how does DSA feel on the Matias switches?

I don't know. I sold that board. I have only used SP's DCS caps on Matias switches. Overall, I'm not really a fan of typing on DSA.

[zslane]

So how does DSA feel on the Matias switches?

I can only speak for myself, but these DSA keycaps feel way better than the Tai Hao Dolch keycaps I had on before.

[pixelpusher]

So how does DSA feel on the Matias switches?

I can only speak for myself, but these DSA keycaps feel way better than the Tai Hao Dolch keycaps I had on before.

Good to hear it.  I'm going to do my best to get them to work on the v60.  Just going with the stock black case and I'll call that a day.  Should look beautiful, just worried about getting the damn stabilizers right.  I have a ton of MX stabilizers and one extra full set from Matias.  We'll see what I can do with them

[zslane]

I hope you have much better success with the stabilizers than I did. But to be fair, I just assumed perfect compatibility, which was probably foolish on my part.

The Lambo case is a huge upgrade from the cheap plastic case that the V60 comes in. I further improved it by putting strips of sorbothane acoustic dampening rubber in the case before placing the board into it. Not that Matias switches really need dampening (they are dampened internally already), but every little bit helps, and the extra weight (of both the aluminum and the sorbothane--which is suprisingly heavy) makes the board feel that much more stable and impressive.

[pixelpusher]

I hope you have much better success with the stabilizers than I did. But to be fair, I just assumed perfect compatibility, which was probably foolish on my part.

The Lambo case is a huge upgrade from the cheap plastic case that the V60 comes in. I further improved it by putting strips of sorbothane acoustic dampening rubber in the case before placing the board into it. Not that Matias switches really need dampening (they are dampened internally already), but every little bit helps, and the extra weight (of both the aluminum and the sorbothane--which is suprisingly heavy) makes the board feel that much more stable and impressive.

Can you explain better how you would fix them if you did it again? You mentioned bending them

[the pokemon kid]

You just have to go in with the knowledge that you have to mod the stems from SP. There's no way around it right now, until SP creates a new stem mold that fits Matias switches better. I checked the new Matias batch w/ my 40% Lightcycle and it was super tight, so I didn't force it.

What I saw w/ AEK caps is the stem is more like an octagon than a rectangle, so the corners are trimmed in a bit. That's my plan for these sets... just shave off the corner a bit.

What is the fitment with Alps Keycaps like? I have got some Amber alps that these are going onto and I am now super worried I am going to damage the caps!

[zslane]

Can you explain better how you would fix them if you did it again? You mentioned bending them

The problem is that the vertical "arms" of the stab wire are a tiny bit too tall. As a result they push against the "forward" wall of the MX stab insert and prevent the key from going down all the way smoothly. I would bend the arms in (towards the center of the keycap) a little bit, reducing their effective vertical length by a fraction of a millimeter (I would also have to counter-bend the arm ends "up" so they aren't angling down). That small reduction in length might just be enough to eliminate the binding. But I will never know.

[zslane]

Here, a diagram might help:

[pixelpusher]

Can you explain better how you would fix them if you did it again? You mentioned bending them

The problem is that the vertical "arms" of the stab wire are a tiny bit too tall. As a result they push against the "forward" wall of the MX stab insert and prevent the key from going down all the way smoothly. I would bend the arms in (towards the center of the keycap) a little bit, reducing their effective vertical length by a fraction of a millimeter (I would also have to counter-bend the arm ends "up" so they aren't angling down). That small reduction in length might just be enough to eliminate the binding. But I will never know.

Okay I think I understand what you are saying. Thanks for sharing. I'll update when I get my set.  Still not sure why I don't even have a shipping notice yet.  Just have to be patient

[pixelpusher]

Here, a diagram might help:

(Attachment Link)

Nice. Yep that's what I was thinking you were saying

[Valzaan]

I am fairly new to the keyboard community so please pardon my ignorance.  I am reading about the fragility of the Alps stems and how some people are considering this set a permanent install.  Is that just because of the way the Alps stems are or would this apply to the MX stems as well?  I am hoping to get this set and put it on a Filco I have while I wait on the Kira to launch and arrive.  If I can get a MX set do I need to wait until I get the board I want these to live on before putting them on? And lastly, if this is also a weakness with MX stems, does this apply to most sets or is it due to the profile or the manufacturer?  Thank you in advance to anyone willing to educate me!

[dante]

Valzaan: It is not a problem with MX.  The stems on the Alps caps may need to have extra plastic cut but even then the caps are a tight fit.

Stick with MX and you'll be happy man.

[Valzaan]

Valzaan: It is not a problem with MX.  The stems on the Alps caps may need to have extra plastic cut but even then the caps are a tight fit.

Stick with MX and you'll be happy man.

Awesome, thank you for clarifying that. Now here is hoping I can snag one of the MX extras since I missed the group buy.   

[zslane]

So I was able to fix up my V60 mini with the judicious application of a little glue and very careful re-casing. The Recognizer key in the L-Ctrl position sits higher than the other keys after the gluing. The stabilized keys sit a little higher because of the binding issue with the stab wires. But I was able to set the DIP switches the way I want and the keyboard works fine, though the lack of full key travel on the Return key feels odd.

[00zeRO]

Not sure if I missed it, but I see that we have extra F and J keys (thanks for that ) but...I don't see any deep dish for homing. If it was not part of the design, that's cool, but if SP messed up, well here is my complaint.

Otherwise, definitely an awesome set evangs! WTG!

[zslane]

Not sure if I missed it, but I see that we have extra F and J keys (thanks for that ) but...I don't see any deep dish for homing. If it was not part of the design, that's cool, but if SP messed up, well here is my complaint.

Otherwise, definitely an awesome set evangs! WTG!

This set provides homing bumps instead of deep dishing.

[00zeRO]

Not sure if I missed it, but I see that we have extra F and J keys (thanks for that ) but...I don't see any deep dish for homing. If it was not part of the design, that's cool, but if SP messed up, well here is my complaint.

Otherwise, definitely an awesome set evangs! WTG!

This set provides homing bumps instead of deep dishing.

Thought so. I am glad to have the non-homing keys to replace. So, all in all I am extremely happy and grateful for this set!