Ask the experts

[DougFromCO]

Riding a Virtus Mythique 29. My rear suspension works fine - compresses and rebounds. However, if I lock it out, it will compress then rebound VERY slowly.

Any suggestions as to what might be happening? This is my first bike so don't really know anything about them.

[Gophercoats]

I was going to answer until I saw this comment. So no photos will be posted of my wash setup.
I'm a big proponent for tools and water for "dirty parts", and a separate bucket and tools for "pretty parts"
-Orange bucket from home depot of with tools for "dirty parts". Brushes with a red handle marking them as dirty. These are a mix of kitchen scrubbers, toilet bowl brushes, and the odd bike specific chainring brush. The bucket has some warm water and some dish soap. This is not necessarily for the washing aspect, but more to clean the contaminates off of the brushes.
-White Ace Hardware bucket for "pretty part" brushes and sponge, again with some water and dish soap to clean off the brushes. I have the MucOff brush set, but only because I was buying the for others, along with some kitchen type sponges.
Dirty parts are anything the collects heavy built up dirt, or grease: under saddle, under BB, chainstay, tires/wheels, cassette, chainring, chain. They all get washed with the dirty tools with Muckoff bike wash, and occasionally MucOff degreaser on the drivetrain. I find bike specific bushes and tools too weak, bristles are not stiff enough, thats why I use a kitchen or bathroom specific brushes.
Top of bike gets a light spray with the hose, and then spayed with MucOff bike wash, and the soft brushes go to work. I like the Mukoff soft brush for all the painted parts, and their split scrubber (looks like a lobster claw) for getting around hubs and chainstays close to the wheels. Most of the dirty parts (except the drivetrain) get washed again with the clean brushes.

I'm in the camp of less is more. Less washing is better in the long run. I'll let my bikes get dirty and dusty and not wash them until really needed. If you're washing your bike every time you ride you're just going to be replacing bearings sooner than necessary.

I dry off my bike with a microfibre towel, bounce it on the rear wheel to get water out of nook and crannies, and then use SC1 to polish it. This makes a wash last way longer, it prevents dirt and dust from sticking to the bike. Pledge furniture polish is the the same product as SC1, just without the bike part markup tax. I prefer lemon pledge, but the cotton candy smell of SC1 is worth the extra price.

Chain waxing is only on my road bikes, MTB get the old fashion lube. I lube after rides, wipe until rags are clean (to the point i can rub my finger on the chain and not leave a streak on my finger), so the drivetrain is fairly clean most of time, and ready to ride at a moments notice. The drivetrain usually dosent need much special attention on wash day. I lube pivots on derailleur with triflow, pivots on dropper levers, pivots on SPDs, file off rock strike sharps on pedals. Most suspension linkages are bearing based, so I stay away from them with the triflow. Nothing special to suspension sanctions.
I pedal the bike and mimic a brake bed in procedure, that way I burn off any contaminates that may have gotten on the rotors or pads, this prevents brake squeal on the ride after a wash.

Again, it's not a show piece, and in my opinion washing it less is better. The SC1 is a invaluable product, it keeps the bike clean for a long time. Last night at the local race series some commented on me washing my bike to look good just for the race series, and it had actually been 8-10 rides since it had been washed, but the SC1 has it looking new, it actually says "New Bike In A Can" on the label.

Edit: I'm in a dry dusty Colorado eviroment, so its never a mud caked bike, just dust. (gawd forbid we ride when its wet here)
When I lived in the PNW we rode in Whistler/Squamish/Pemberton in every condition, poring rain just meant traction and brown pow face shots.
There I was a fan of letting the dirt dry, clean the stanchions and pivots with a clean rag, and then brush the loose dried dirt off with a medium bristled brush. No water, no hose, just brush off the dirt between wash days.

saved

[Sandbox]

Anyone tried this? Somewhat interested but the price puts me off.

https://na.pocsports.com/products/column-vpd-backpack-13l?variant=42274465448102

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[coach]

Hey experts,

So I somehow bent the axle on my singlespeed and need to find a replacement axle that Chris King no longer stocks (too much torque in the legs! [emoji1]). More likely something rattled loose holding everything together but we each have our narratives right?

Long shot, but anyone got a lead on a PHB541 - 135 mm Bolt On axle for the singlespeed ISO Disc hub?

I searched the interwebz but the part appears to be out of stock.

Appreciate it if someone could give me a lead so I don’t need to get a new hub.

Cheers,

Coach


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[HAB]

Hey experts,

So I somehow bent the axle on my singlespeed and need to find a replacement axle that Chris King no longer stocks (too much torque in the legs! [emoji1]). More likely something rattled loose holding everything together but we each have our narratives right?

Long shot, but anyone got a lead on a PHB541 - 135 mm Bolt On axle for the singlespeed ISO Disc hub?

I searched the interwebz but the part appears to be out of stock.

Appreciate it if someone could give me a lead so I don’t need to get a new hub.

Cheers,

Coach


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Pinner Machine Shop has made some out of production King axles before. Hit him up.

[coach]

Pinner Machine Shop has made some out of production King axles before. Hit him up.

Sweet - thanks for the lead - I sent them a message.

Cheers!


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[klauss]

Is this worth a sand and re-paint or is it just going to look like this again quickly?

[climberevan]

That hitch is obviously destroyed, and yer gonna die. Time to get a 1Up.

Even powder coating can't withstand the forces and little movements in a hitch. I say don't bother. Slather on some grease if you're really worried about corrosion.

[nickwm21]

Not worth it.


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[El Chupacabra]

If you leave that rack in the hitch long term, I'd put some grease on the threaded section and on the insert. If it gets removed between uses, I wouldn't bother with anything.

[Dromond]

I just put an EXT Storia coil shock on my Sentinel, and it’s been amazing. Only thing is, it really highlights the shortcomings of my current fork, a Manitou Mezzer. My biggest gripe with the Manitou is the lack of small bump compliance, and a general feeling of harshness on high speed chattery stuff. The fork actually feels quite good on medium and larger hits, but I simply cannot get it to perform to my standards on the smaller stuff. I suspect the bushings are tight, which is fixable, but honestly I’m over it and want to try something else entirely.

I come from a DH racing background, so I like to ride gnarly terrain at high speed, prioritize a planted hovercraft feel, and want maximum traction on chunky high speed nonsense. I weight 160lbs and ride fast but generally pretty smooth, and have never felt like 35-36mm forks were too flexy for me.

So what’s the latest and greatest 160mm travel fork when it comes to plushness while still offering good support without being too massively heavy? I’ve thought about maybe snagging a Lyrik or 36 and putting a Smashpot in, or maybe one of the new RS Charger 3.0 forks(although it sounds like some people are finding these harsh?), or a fox 36 or 38? Or maybe an EXT ERA, although the price and lack of user serviceability are not the best. I’m also not opposed to aftermarket dampers, coil conversions, Secus’s, or whatever if that’s what it comes to, I just want my fork to be awesome for blasting down rocky mountainsides at Mach stupid.

So mags, what 160mm forks are blowing your mind right now?

Not to harsh your Gear Acquisition Syndrome but if you think the bushings are tight, it’s absolutely worth trying to get them fixed before buying a new fork. Tight bushings will make the best fork in the world ride like absolute shit.

I got a 2021 36 Grip2 in 2020 and after a lot of pondering found that the bushings were indeed very tight. It was harsh on small bumps with poor traction. I pulled the damper and spring, and found that just sliding the lowers on the stanchions was tight and “notchy”. I compared it to a friends 36 and found them to feel totally different. I sent mine to Fox on warranty and it came back with no tight bushings or stiction at all. It’s super smooth and the best riding fork I’ve ever had. Lesson learned: quality control at the Fox factory does not exist, but if you send it in for warranty it will be serviced by someone who knows what they are doing. My local suspension tech says he sees this all the time from all manufacturers and more so since 2020 - suspension just not finished properly at the factory with no quality testing done.

[bagtagley]

Is this worth a sand and re-paint or is it just going to look like this again quickly?

[ATTACH]423706[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]423707[/ATTACH]

I’d do a quick wipe and coat with Boeshield.

[jm2e]

Fresh brake bleed. (Saint)
New rotors. (RT 66)
New pads. (Trickstuff)
Started squealing early in the bed in process.
I’ve had this with all sorts of rotor-pad combos.
What do mags do when squealing starts right away like this?


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[climberevan]

Most of the time it goes away for me after a couple of hard, fast stops from at least 20mph.

[XXX-er]

last time it was problem I sanded pads & rotor, got driven to the top of a very steep very long hill and did panic stops all the way down