Tech/Maintenance

[Barry]

9 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

Barry, take a look at Tannus Tubeless Armor. They have a version for gravel tires, but they may only work up to 47 wide.

Thanks... I really like their plus option for my 5010. And indeed I sent them an email yesterday complaining that my ChamoisHagar rim/tire combo falls squarely between their XC and CX offerings. We'll see if they have any suggestions,  because I really like the looks of their non tubed option. 

[AntonioGG]

4 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

My best explanation of how they felt after installation is like replacing your worn out OEM struts on your car with Koni.

Ha!  I know exactly how this feels like.  Koni gold FTW!

[Teamsloan]

On 12/4/2021 at 9:08 AM, ATXZJ said:

Those look pretty interesting. I'll keep them in mind the next time I buy an insert.

 

Been running the Vittorias in my bikes and have been smashing rocks at speed (when possible) with no tire or insert failures. I did crack an ENVE rim but it was going on four years old. I think that's some some of record for longevity for ENVE.

My best explanation of how they felt after installation is like replacing your worn out OEM struts on your car with Koni. Just totally settled the bike down. Bet they'd be great on a gravel bike and the runflat feature is nice too.

I don't think they provide the absolute protection of cushcore but it's a happy medium.

 

You’re right, not as protective as Cushcore but they’re close. I was willing to trade the protection for the easier installation. I also really love the support the give the tire in corners. I’m running right at 19/17psi back/front with Maxxis EXO 2.6 tires on 30mm internal rims with the Tannus inserts and they’re great. 

[rockshins]

Just noticed there is a little space between the fork crown and lower headset bearing. Haven’t noticed anything while riding just looks a little weird. Is my crown race not installed correctly? Was done at a local shop and would assume they’d do it right. 

[Teamsloan]

Only way to really know is to drop the fork and look, but it looks normal to me at least from these views. 

[CBaron]

IME installing a lower fork crown race is a pretty aggressive maneuver.  Its hard to do it half ass.  If it wasn't fully seated down I think it would rock noticeably on the race seat and would feel and sound (over time) loose.

-CJB

[ATXZJ]

13 minutes ago, CBaron said:

IME installing a lower fork crown race is a pretty aggressive maneuver.  Its hard to do it half ass.  If it wasn't fully seated down I think it would rock noticeably on the race seat and would feel and sound (over time) loose.

-CJB

X2

[rockshins]

3 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

Only way to really know is to drop the fork and look, but it looks normal to me at least from these views. 

Just did, looks normal to me. 

[rockshins]

2 hours ago, CBaron said:

IME installing a lower fork crown race is a pretty aggressive maneuver.  Its hard to do it half ass.  If it wasn't fully seated down I think it would rock noticeably on the race seat and would feel and sound (over time) loose.

-CJB

No knocking sound, feels solid. Good to know, thanks!

[AntonioGG]

I know several have posted about issues with contaminated pads and rotors.  I recently had my struggles due to my own stupidity.  I transferred calipers from my crashed bike to different frame without taking the pads off first.   That resulted in super noisy brakes and terrible stopping power.   I tried sanding pads and disks and re-bedding.  The thing that worked for me was sanding disks and new pads then re-bedding.  I somehow ran into this video which is very interesting.  For those of you that have built motors, the container and the paste sure look like valve grinding compound (of which I have some).  I'm tempted to try it on my contaminated pads and an old rotor.

 

[ATXZJ]

I applaud those efforts.

 I've just learned to buy a box of truckerCO metallic pads and toss anything that makes noise.  The effort of trying to salvage a set of $15 pads just isn't worth it. The $35 Shimano don't work any better than the truckers anyway. Especially here in flatlandia. 

A quick cleaning of the rotor with isopropyl alcohol and then sanding with 150-200 grit seems to work when bedding new pads. 

Admittedly I bought some Roloc discs because I'm lazy and don't want to sand the rotors by hand.

[AntonioGG]

My issue was on my road bike, and at the time I couldn't find anyone with those pads in stock, hence my extra effort.  It for sure was hard to remove the bedded material completely and had to take the disks off the wheels to do that. The new pads came from the new group I'd taken off the frame (luckily I didn't contaminate those).  I had planned on selling the whole thing together but luckily I hadn't yet.  I now see that EBC has some in stock which I want to try.  When I first started having this problem not even the usual alternative vendors had pads.

[olddbrider]

Has anybody ever used the Quarq Shockwiz?

https://www.amazon.com/Quarq-ShockWiz-Black-Standard/dp/B06WVH6PPS/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8vSOBhCkARIsAGdp6RTNIiddFxkW5BW7qVl381-GwJ0YhO5VguCc2lRzGEotgNn_cdmrC7waAk2bEALw_wcB&hvadid=190506809683&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9028226&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8549475455013021125&hvtargid=kwd-300217993631&hydadcr=2395_9913971&keywords=quarq+shockwiz&qid=1641924115&sr=8-2

I've seen a couple of videos and I'd love to try it to get my suspension dialed, but the price is kind of outrageous. It would be great for a shop to rent these out. I'd happily shell out $40 for a day.

[mack_turtle]

40 minutes ago, olddbrider said:

 It would be great for a shop to rent these out. I'd happily shell out $40 for a day.

I thought BSS had them to rent before the merge with Trek. otherwise: https://www.feeltheberm.com/

[ATXZJ]

Last I recall, peddler CP had one they were renting out.

[June Bug]

Semi tech-ish.  I had posted on the Pay it Forward thread looking for a Surly Open Bar or similar.  After making my own spread sheet with information on 7 handlebars, I ended up just ordering another Open Bar through The Peddler since I know that works for me.  @mack_turtle posted a link to an amazing carbon bar from Carver, but the sweep wasn't quite enough. 

Of course, Bikepacking.com just posted a page with a long discussion of  comfort-oriented (alt) handlebars with a list of all available handlebars, noting width, sweep, rise and clamp for each one along with a photo.  Most photos are the bars installed on a bike; some are just the bar.   You can check them out here: LIST OF COMFORT MTB HANDLEBARS (ALT BARS)

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by June Bug

[mack_turtle]

dang, I missed an opportunity to share this https://whatbars.com/

[RedRider3141]

So, new bike day! I can barely justify 2 bikes, so I am working on getting my Mission ready to sell. In doing so I am swapping the XT 1x11 from the Mission with the XT 1x10 on my Kato. Everything installed and tuned well EXCEPT the chain line. The 1x11 didn't seem to line up as well as when it was on my Mission. The chain is almost dead straight when on the 5th smallest cog. It does shift all the way to the largest but the chain is trying to come off the front sprocket. This happens on the 3 largest gears. From what I can tell, I have some options but I wanted to hear from the experts. 

Option 1: On my BB, I have 2 spacers on the drive side and 1 on the non-drive side. Can I just move them all to the drive side? As long as my front sprocket clears the frame. 

Option 2: Can I space the front sprocket inwards from the spider?

[mack_turtle]

I'm not certain you need all those spacers. that appears to be a BB from the era of SM-BB70, so measure the width of the frame's BB shell (68 or 73 mm) and check that you have the right amount: https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/si/SI-1L60A-003-ENG.pdf

if you have the right amount, moving one of the drive side spacers to the left side is not going to hurt anything, but will move the chainring over a tad.

 

[Teamsloan]

Might also need to check if the chain needs an extra link. Sometimes moving a chain over from a different bike will require this.

[mack_turtle]

derp, that BB number is right on the cup in the photo: https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deore-m610/SM-BB52.html

I just realized that Shimano designs these bottom brackets with a stack of three different-sized spacers on the drive side so that a chaincase can fit. because, doesn't everyone want to put XT cranks on their Omafiets?

if you wanna get really nerdy about drivetrains: https://nsmb.com/articles/were-being-slowly-boiled-super-boost/

[RedRider3141]

So I experimented with the BB spacers which were originally working against my issue and with another front sprocket with a built in spacer. I was able to move the sprocket ~1/8" closer to the frame and move my straight chain line from the #5 sprocket to the #6. A short road test shows the "clicking" from the front sprocket wanting to eject the chain is gone. However, my left (non-drive) side BB is only able to thread in just under 2 full threads. Is that enough? I feel like it's asking for it to loosen up/creek? Is there a minimum engagement for BB halves? 

I haven't tried a longer chain yet, it's not tight in the lowest (biggest diameter) gear. But there is definitely room in the smallest to go longer. I'm waiting on some 11spd master links. 

[Teamsloan]

I don’t know of anything official stating how many threads, but there’s no way I would ride that. 

[mack_turtle]

do you need that many spacers on the left side? seems excessive. could you get away with removing at least one of them?

Edited March 20, 2022 by mack_turtle

[RedRider3141]

4 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

do you need that many spacers on the left side? seems excessive. could you get away with removing at least one of them?

Tried that, the spacer in the center bottoms out before the bearings seat fully.

Yeah, 2 threads seemed sketch. I ended up going back to 1 spacer on the drive side and 2 on the other with the Shimano sprocket with built in chain ring spacers and it seems OK, I thought I tried that combo but I guess not.