WLemke

Figured I'd close the loop on this thread. Ended up putting a deposit down on a Ripmo with Velorangutan. I went with the XT build, Factory 36, Factory X2 and the standard aluminum wheelset. I'm slightly second guessing my choice of wheels but didn't feel great about forking over an additional $700 for the Ibis carbon rims with the i9 hydra hubs. I was given a delivery estimate of the first or second week in September...which has now passed. No frustration towards the guys over at Velorangutan as they don't have any control over Ibis sending them the bike, but the anticipation is certainly killing me! Hoping the bike gets here soon as we are slowly approaching some great riding weather. Would also like to get seat time on the new bike before October's EB: Pandemic edition. Anyways, fingers crossed.

Please return them.

Rides like a dream* * Dream is used extremely liberally in this context

Took the hopper out to the nut today.

Thanks! Always appreciate your updates on here and your Twitter.

Anyone have a chance to scope out Brushy this afternoon? Hoping to ride tomorrow afternoon assuming no more rain.

Thumper isn’t harder than double down in a technical sense. I’d say it’s easier in terms of tech. It’s just has a lot more elevation change and isn’t maintained to the level DD is. It gets your heart “thumping”. Frankly, it’s a love it or hate it trail. Here is the TF link to Thumper. Don’t ride this trail alone though. There is no guarantee anyone will be around to find you if you are injured. Also, it can be easy to get lost in Thumper. General rule is follow the white signs. Even then you may find yourself turned around!

Internals looked fine and wasn’t really dirty at all. Gave the system a bleed and the issue persisted. found our from the guy who owns this bike that the lever is less than a year old. He is having it warrantied.

Thanks! Exactly what I had in mind. I’m hoping the master cylinder piston just needs a good cleaning and lube.

No. When I pull quickly and hold the lever remains firm. I wish I could order replacement parts but with Shimano your only option is to replace the entire lever.

Anyone ever seen this issue before with shimano brakes? When I pull the brake lever quickly, the lever feels firm. When I pull slowly, the lever goes to the bar. The brake will not lock the rear wheel when riding unless I pull really hard with two fingers. Not my bike so I don’t know the maintenance history. Just putting some feelers out before I bleed/start taking things apart. My initial guess is a bad master cylinder Video

Sanity check. Did you buy just a new chain ring or a new crank set? If the former, you don’t need a new BB. Just swap the new chain ring for the old. If the latter, the BB you’ll buy will be dependent on the new crank set. For example, if you bought a SRAM DUB GX crankset, your bike will accept a 68/73 BSA DUB BB.

So I believe your hubs are made by a company called JoyTech and you can actually get replacement freehub bodies from any Specialized dealer. This would almost exclusively be done in cases where you are wanting to change the type of cassette driver standard (SRAM XD -> Shimano HG or HG -> XD). The degree of engagement (Forward pedal slack) would be the same between your current freehub and the one you'd replace it with. From the sound of your post, you are unhappy with the degree of engagement on your current hub so getting a replacement freehub body for your current hub isn't going to solve your problem. As Mr. Turtle alluded to, the price to physically lace a new hub into your current rim is typically not worth the cost considering you already have a fairly low end wheelset. For example, bicycle sport shop is going to charge you about $90 plus the cost of new spokes. A i9 1/1 hub costs $289 and a complete i9 1/1 rear wheel costs $450. Delta between just the hub and the entire wheel is $161. Keeping in mind that you're going to spend around $100 to re-lace the new hub, it may be worth spending the extra $60 to get a higher quality rim that comes with the complete wheel.

My “new” whip. 1988 Specialized Rockhopper Comp in DeNucci Green. Went out for a rip on Quarter Notch today. So much fun riding a bike that forces you to pick good lines.

Beautiful Day in Vail. My hands are killing me after 35 miles of down hill madness.