Tech/Maintenance

[throet]

2 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Ok, @throet, I have 2 Pikes, both are 51mm offsets. Both were originally 130mm, but *appear* to be 140mm now:

 

 

 

One is a 110mm axle and the other has a 100mm axle. If you want to borrow one to try it on your bike, just let me know. Before you do, measure yours and see how it stacks up relative to the picture above. Both have the stanchion markings that lead me to believe it is 140mm as well.

PM me if interested.

Thanks AB much appreciated. Getting ready to head out to the Hill Country for a staycation but will likely PM you over the weekend once we're back home. If nothing else I can swap out the fork and if that noise continues, I'll know it's not the fork. I'll need the 110mm since my wheels are boost. Thanks again! 

[AustinBike]

OK, the 110 has a Cane Creek crown race on it right now, let me know if you have a CC headset, if not I can take it off for you.

[RedRider3141]

How would one go about finding bigger/smaller cogs for my daughters Hot rock? It is a single speed coaster and it flys on the BCRT but her feet are hardly moving on gentle single track so I'd like to gear it down a bit. 

 

[mack_turtle]

coaster brake cogs should be available in larger sizes. all the ones I have seen use a three-spline interface. all you have to do is pry a c-clip off the driver. if you're just going one tooth bigger, you might be able to use the same chain. if you get two or more additional teeth, you might need a longer chain. coaster cogs cost about five bucks.

a smaller chainring is a standard BMX ring. most bike shops should be able to get you something from J&B. Empire BMX on North Lamar Blvd. might have something too. the only downside is that you have to deal with the Ashtabula bottom bracket.

 

https://www.jbi.bike/site/search_detail.php?x1=CHAINRINGS&x2=1-PIECE

Edited July 8, 2020 by mack_turtle

[WLemke]

Got a blast from the past for y’all. A customer brought in an early 90s Gary Fisher ProCaliber.

The fork did not work at all. Did some research on the fork and determined that it was a Manitou 1. I also discovered this fork uses elastomers, something I’ve never even heard of before. Any-who, found a company in NM that makes refresh kits for ancient suspension. 

 
Started to take this fork apart and noticed that there were no elastomers! Very strange. Well, turns out the elastomers were indeed in the fork, just in goo form at the bottom of the lowers. 30 years in the Texas heat is not an ideal climate for them. 

After a liter of acetone, an hour of scrubbing and a few curse words, I finally got all the goo formerly known as elastomers out. Everything from there was smooth sailing. Installed the new elastomers and dust seals and slapped the fork back together. 

well, that was fun. With that said, I don’t think I’m going to take on this type of work again. The elastomer goo was just too frustrating. 

 

[Big_papa_nuts]

44 minutes ago, WLemke said:

Got a blast from the past for y’all. A customer brought in an early 90s Gary Fisher ProCaliber.

The fork did not work at all. Did some research on the fork and determined that it was a Manitou 1. I also discovered this fork uses elastomers, something I’ve never even heard of before. Any-who, found a company in NM that makes refresh kits for ancient suspension. 

 
Started to take this fork apart and noticed that there were no elastomers! Very strange. Well, turns out the elastomers were indeed in the fork, just in goo form at the bottom of the lowers. 30 years in the Texas heat is not an ideal climate for them. 

After a liter of acetone, an hour of scrubbing and a few curse words, I finally got all the goo formerly known as elastomers out. Everything from there was smooth sailing. Installed the new elastomers and dust seals and slapped the fork back together. 

well, that was fun. With that said, I don’t think I’m going to take on this type of work again. The elastomer goo was just too frustrating. 

 

Risse Racing will do a full overhaul on most of those older fork for $65. What's the place in NM selling the elastomers?

Edited July 11, 2020 by Big_papa_nuts

[WLemke]

1 hour ago, Big_papa_nuts said:

Risse Racing will do a full overhaul on most of those older fork for $65. What's the place in NM selling the elastomers?

Suspension Fork Parts

$65 is a great deal. Refresh kit and new dust seals was $90 shipped from SFP in NM. 

[Cafeend]

I have decided I need a new headset and went down the rabbit hole

These pics are from my Ventana El Commandante I am guessing 2016 with tapered fork.
I am pretty certain the cups are Zero Stack right?


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[Teamsloan]

Looks like a ZS44/ZS56 if you ask me.


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[Cafeend]

16 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

Looks like a ZS44/ZS56 if you ask me.


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Thank You. So pulled the cups and you are dead on!

 Top= ZS44 and bottom was ZS56

Thats kind of amazing on you 

[AustinBike]

That is kinda his job. Don’t ever question him. He knows shit.

[Teamsloan]

I do the geeking out so you don't have to 😉

[Teamsloan]

I was going to go ahead and add the frame to our database, but I can't tell what else Ventanna has changed in the specs since 2016. Their current models use an external headset (EC34/EC44)

Edited July 14, 2020 by Teamsloan

[Cafeend]

That is what caused some of my confusion in researching. On their site they call it a 34 upper and 44 lower.
I did not however call him up to ask.
And so many of his frames are custom. I was told mine was a custom order by the original owner

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[Teamsloan]

That makes it SUPER difficult to enter then. But, if you give me the BB, seat post, rear axle spacing, and rear disc mount specs I could mock up all the important info. Max rear tire spacing too if you know it.

Then all your future upgrades are easy to figure out.

[Teamsloan]

wow...a Ventanna hardtail comes with a PF30 BB...what were they thinking?

[RedRider3141]

On 7/8/2020 at 1:30 PM, mack_turtle said:

smaller chainring is a standard BMX ring. most bike shops should be able to get you something from J&B. Empire BMX on North Lamar Blvd. might have something too. the only downside is that you have to deal with the Ashtabula bottom bracket.

Thanks mack! $20 later she's all set with a new chainring and bling chain!! 

[Cafeend]

I ended up pulling the old headset. Bottom bearing was fine. Upper had the very slightest play , maybe a half MM is all.
I went ahead and got a Wolftooth
Headset. You can mix and match so I went Premium on top and Performance for the lower.

Installed with a press and it was so easy. Did a quick 7 mile ride at SN last night and it was a very noticeable difference.
I had no idea that something like a headset that when it works you dont think of but when it is somehow off it can make a ride janky.
Thanks for all the advice and education.


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[Chief]

Nothing worse than indexed steering🤣

[AustinBike]

12 hours ago, Cafeend said:

I ended up pulling the old headset. Bottom bearing was fine. Upper had the very slightest play , maybe a half MM is all.
I went ahead and got a Wolftooth
Headset. You can mix and match so I went Premium on top and Performance for the lower.

Installed with a press and it was so easy. Did a quick 7 mile ride at SN last night and it was a very noticeable difference.
I had no idea that something like a headset that when it works you dont think of but when it is somehow off it can make a ride janky.
Thanks for all the advice and education.


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

When I bought my Niner RIP 9 (used) it had an angleset headset. Worst. Piece. Of. Crap. Ever.

The idea that you can simply "dial in" your proper headset angle is offset by the idea that you can "dial out" your proper headset angle.

And it made a ton of noise. Put in a Cane Creek and was done with it. Never again.

[ATXZJ]

5 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

When I bought my Niner RIP 9 (used) it had an angleset headset. Worst. Piece. Of. Crap. Ever.

The idea that you can simply "dial in" your proper headset angle is offset by the idea that you can "dial out" your proper headset angle.

And it made a ton of noise. Put in a Cane Creek and was done with it. Never again.

Those were notoriously flawed headsets. 

I've run works offset headsets in my bikes for years and they've been trouble free. Big fan of slacker HTAs. 

 

 

 

[AustinBike]

I treat my HTA the way I treat salt and special ordering in the restaurant. The chef knows way more than me, so I eat things the way they prepare them. I am always satisfied. 

My wife, on the other hand, always has to order something special and then has ~65% chance that they get the order right.

People that design bikes are smarter than me so I don't try to change the geometry if I can help it.

[Kyle]

As soon as you loosen the seat bolts you're in uncharted territory.

[ATXZJ]

4 hours ago, AustinBike said:

I treat my HTA the way I treat salt and special ordering in the restaurant. The chef knows way more than me, so I eat things the way they prepare them. I am always satisfied. 

My wife, on the other hand, always has to order something special and then has ~65% chance that they get the order right.

People that design bikes are smarter than me so I don't try to change the geometry if I can help it.

Agree 100% on food

In my 20s I'd always service a part on my car/truck with something "better", "bigger" or "faster" . Now that I'm in my 40s, and just want reliability, so its OEM all the way. 

Bikes are not cars. You can breath new life into a dated design with a few tweaks. It also opens the door to more options. Find a frame you like that has everything going for it but the HTA is a little steep? Swap a works.  My XC/trail bike was supposed to have a  68* HTA with a 51mm offset from the factory. Swapped to a 2* works bringing it to 66* with a 40mm offset fork. It's night and day. Never going back to traditional offsets. Ever.

Also, deviating from recommended sag will have the same effect as swapping a headset. 

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by ATXZJ

[AustinBike]

1 hour ago, ATXZJ said:

deviating from recommended sag 

 

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?