Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

I played with the clamp version of the XT shifter hoping it would allow me to get the paddles in a better spot than with the lever-mounted version which either digs into my thumb when descending or forces me to twist said thumb in a weird way to downshift. I was particularly annoyed at the fact that I had to remove a grip to install the thing, I run foam grips and they're always on the verge of tearing apart so removing them without trashing them is near impossible. The paddles ended up in a slightly shittier position and after 3 rides I went back to the old setup. The grip didn't survive the 2nd removal. I wish they had made the bar clamp similar to the one on the brake lever which you can open fully. I guess there's probably some weight saving consideration there but those gains are minuscule and can't possibly justify the inconvenience of the installation method.
I ended up trimming the edge of the paddles to shorten them and wrapped the little rubber patch around the edge and now my thumb is happy. Tempted to get a 3D printer and design my own shifter paddles!

Granted that my XT shifters are a few years older, but they have a clamp that can open around the bar. No grip removal needed. Of course, you need to know the trick to find and push the little button to get that clamp to open all the way (very small allen to push the hidden button). But handy once you figure it out.

Super handy indeed!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by toast2266

I'm kinda bummed about it. The Shimano stuff shifts so nice when it's new, but it just doesn't seem to last very long. The Sram stuff leaves plenty of room for improvement, but I've never had an eagle shifter or derailleur just outright quit on me. I've had plenty die after smashing them on something, but that's different. I've gone through a couple XT derailleurs and now this XT shifter that just crapped out without any impact damage or apparent reason.

---

Isn't this the case with a lot of their stuff. Brakes are the best when they work too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Iowagriz

Granted that my XT shifters are a few years older, but they have a clamp that can open around the bar. No grip removal needed. Of course, you need to know the trick to find and push the little button to get that clamp to open all the way (very small allen to push the hidden button). But handy once you figure it out.

---

Didn't realize they used to have the option of opening the clamp on the older shifter. Dumb function to remove!

To temper the Shimano hate around here, I'm now over 1500 miles on a set of XT brakes on my Occam. The bite point has never wandered, I've never experienced any kind of fade, and I haven't bled the fuckers even once. I did snap a lever blade but that was dumping the bike into a pile of rocks and I can't really fault Shimano for that one...
I had the same brakes on my Intense and went 1400 miles without any issues whatsoever. I did bleed these once.
I may be luck but unless someone gives me a pair of Dominion A4s I'll be running XT brakes on my next bike.

I am not usually one to complain about changing standards, and I understand why the proliferation of free hub bodies occurred, but man, it's rather annoying. Swapping parts around to build both myself, and my partner new-to-us bikes and it's going to end up involving three different free hub standards. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on all the driver bodies I needed, but swapping the FSA one off the whole axel assembly it's bolted to is looking like it's gonna be a PITA, especially since I can't find any instructions or videos for their weird proprietary system.

I'm 2 years into a 12spd XT shifter with no issues, the first xt der I had early last season suffered from the clutch issue, but the one I've been running this year has been flawless. still vastly prefer shimano functionality over sram at the price level I'm willing to shell out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cydwhit

I am not usually one to complain about changing standards, and I understand why the proliferation of free hub bodies occurred, but man, it's rather annoying. Swapping parts around to build both myself, and my partner new-to-us bikes and it's going to end up involving three different free hub standards. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on all the driver bodies I needed, but swapping the FSA one off the whole axel assembly it's bolted to is looking like it's gonna be a PITA, especially since I can't find any instructions or videos for their weird proprietary system.

---

That was honestly part of my consideration when I ended up buying the same bike as Ms Boissals. The ability to wrench on both with the same set of tools and have a stash of parts that can go on either bike is nice. I've stolen stuff off her bike a few times while waiting for parts, allowed me to keep riding without having to take time off. She'll notice a brand new part on her bike and just shake her head at me.

New rant, but other Orbea Occam owners heads up! That's you @Boissal but maybe you know about this already.

New to me Occam with very few miles on it. Long-awaited Montana road trip, several rides under my belt (Sheep Creek, Gazelle, Twin Lakes loop- all lots of chunk). I'm lubing the chain and notice that the circlip is cracked and broken. Turns out that it's a thru axle, suspension pivot, and derailleur hanger in one, held together with a plastic clip. Jeez....

I "fixed" it with a zip tie, and it lasted for all 23 miles of the Alpine 7. Tight! Check out the pic!

Turns out that North Shore machines a stylie version of this part with no plastic. My buddies at The Hub bike shop in Jackson sent me one via Bike Flights, and it's easy to install.
https://northshorebillet.com/product...ailleur-hanger




Sent from my SM-A600A using Tapatalk
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...fa836ee107.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f9b1bbcd91.jpg

Shit, out of stock. I haven't had any issues with the plastic thingie but it's definitely annoying as shit to deal with when replacing the hanger. Which I've had to do and will most certainly have to do again at some point. Hopefully the metal version comes back in stock soon.

Another thing you might want to consider for your Occam is upgrading the shock mounting bolt to the steel version. There are a number of reports of the alu one breaking with the threaded end staying in the frame. If the frame doesn't crack when the shock moves it still gets trashed most of the time as extracting the broken bolt is near impossible. Orbea has the part (see here), it's out of stock elsewhere.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boissal

Shit, out of stock. I haven't had any issues with the plastic thingie but it's definitely annoying as shit to deal with when replacing the hanger. Which I've had to do and will most certainly have to do again at some point. Hopefully the metal version comes back in stock soon.

Another thing you might want to consider for your Occam is upgrading the shock mounting bolt to the steel version. There are a number of reports of the alu one breaking with the threaded end staying in the frame. If the frame doesn't crack when the shock moves it still gets trashed most of the time as extracting the broken bolt is near impossible. Orbea has the part (see here), it's out of stock elsewhere.

---

Oooh good tip, thanks. I'll ask at The Hub since they're Orbea dealers.

You might give them a call, @Boissal to see if they have more of those North Shore hangers in stock. Tell em I sent you, haha.

Sent from my SM-A600A using Tapatalk

Occam owners. The bike shop i work at has about 5 or 6 North Shore Billet Occam derailleur hangers. I have one in my camel bak, if you need one drop me a pm.

From what I've read the alu bolt issue is mostly on the aluminum frame (H series), it has happened but far less often on the carbon frames (M series). I have one ordered for my M10 because why take the chance for the small cost. I actually ordered 3 (2 for the shop) if anyone needs one if they ever arrive.

No one likes this shit on the trail...

Attachment 385991

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boissal

I played with the clamp version of the XT shifter hoping it would allow me to get the paddles in a better spot than with the lever-mounted version which either digs into my thumb when descending or forces me to twist said thumb in a weird way to downshift. I was particularly annoyed at the fact that I had to remove a grip to install the thing, I run foam grips and they're always on the verge of tearing apart so removing them without trashing them is near impossible. The paddles ended up in a slightly shittier position and after 3 rides I went back to the old setup. The grip didn't survive the 2nd removal. I wish they had made the bar clamp similar to the one on the brake lever which you can open fully. I guess there's probably some weight saving consideration there but those gains are minuscule and can't possibly justify the inconvenience of the installation method.
I ended up trimming the edge of the paddles to shorten them and wrapped the little rubber patch around the edge and now my thumb is happy. Tempted to get a 3D printer and design my own shifter paddles!

---

Do it. You could probably sell them for $100.00. Just like all the special levers for droppersa that used to come with the dropper and now they hit you up for additional money on!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel

No one likes this shit on the trail...

Attachment 385991

---

Preach it! That drop bar shit should stay on the gravel or pavement! (j/k)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cydwhit

I am not usually one to complain about changing standards, and I understand why the proliferation of free hub bodies occurred, but man, it's rather annoying. Swapping parts around to build both myself, and my partner new-to-us bikes and it's going to end up involving three different free hub standards. Luckily, I was able to get my hands on all the driver bodies I needed, but swapping the FSA one off the whole axel assembly it's bolted to is looking like it's gonna be a PITA, especially since I can't find any instructions or videos for their weird proprietary system.

---

And I'm an idiot and accidentally ordered FSA's road XD driver body, instead of their mountain XD driver body. Fricking A. I like their parts a lot but I continue to struggle to figure out any sort of compatibility info from the website. Luckily they're very helpful on the phone. Now I'm pretty sure I just need one brake rotor, one Shimano brake hose, and two derailleur housings/cables to have all the parts I need for this build.

3 trips to the LBS yesterday just to simply replace a cable and housing. First I have to go buy the cable and housing, then I have to go back to have them trim the housing 1 inch because the guy cut it too long (despite having my old housing) and I don't have $40 housing cutters that I'll maybe use once a year, then I realize they sold me a cable that was 1" too short for my long ass bike so I have to get it swapped for one of those jagwire ones that could wrap around the earth. So like 1.5 hours for a 5 minute job (I'm surely to blame for several of these decisions so partially ranting at myself)

I've always been a proponent of the "right tool for the job" mentality but I'm feeling like modern bikes are taking that too far. It seems like everything you want to do requires some specific tool or part that a) local bike shops have for themselves but don't sell and b) costs way more than it should. I've been working on my bikes since I was like 12 and have even worked in shops and it's always been somewhat this way but seems to be getting worse and worse. Is this just a side effect of bikes being so damn unbelievable these days or is it an easy scheme to make us obsessed losers pump even more money into the bike industry? Most of my repairs seem to go this way where it's a simple task but I'm heavily delayed by not having a fully built out bike shop at my house

My good buddy is moving a few states away in a couple days. He was very involved in the MTB scene in my area, and through him i got way more into MTB and met and rode with lots of industry folks and underground "legends". I know a ton of unsanctioned trail networks, and became friendly with their (at times) belligerent local gate keepers. I havent paid anything close to retail for anything bike related in years, and relied heavily on him as my bike mechanic. It's a real fucking bummer to lose him as a friend, and as a riding partner who got me in over my head multiple times, but also gave me some crazy memorable experiences and memories. Life marches forward i guess.

I decided to bleed my XT Deore brakes finally as it was months overdue, and i should really learn something that is fairly easy. Everything went great and my front brake feels crisp and awesome... but my rear brake is FUCKED. I can grab a handful of rear brake and will slowly come to a stop 100' ahead... just zero grab or bite. I took apart everything and cleaned everything with rubbing alcohol, sanded rotors and pads, recleaned with rubbing alcohol and put it all back together. Same problem, zero power, useless rear brakes. Anyone have an idea of how i fucked up?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by californiagrown

My good buddy is moving a few states away in a couple days. He was very involved in the MTB scene in my area, and through him i got way more into MTB and met and rode with lots of industry folks and underground "legends". I know a ton of unsanctioned trail networks, and became friendly with their (at times) belligerent local gate keepers. I havent paid anything close to retail for anything bike related in years, and relied heavily on him as my bike mechanic. It's a real fucking bummer to lose him as a friend, and as a riding partner who got me in over my head multiple times, but also gave me some crazy memorable experiences and memories. Life marches forward i guess.

I decided to bleed my XT Deore brakes finally as it was months overdue, and i should really learn something that is fairly easy. Everything went great and my front brake feels crisp and awesome... but my rear brake is FUCKED. I can grab a handful of rear brake and will slowly come to a stop 100' ahead... just zero grab or bite. I took apart everything and cleaned everything with rubbing alcohol, sanded rotors and pads, recleaned with rubbing alcohol and put it all back together. Same problem, zero power, useless rear brakes. Anyone have an idea of how i fucked up?

---

Did you contaminate your pads with the mineral oil? I've done this and you'll get almost zero bite with contaminated pads. It doesn't take much either - a leaky caliper or a some oily fingers will do it. Bleeding Shimano mtb brakes is pretty straight forward but might take few tries to get it right if you're new to it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HankScorpio

Did you contaminate your pads with the mineral oil? I've done this and you'll get almost zero bite with contaminated pads. It doesn't take much either - a leaky caliper or a some oily fingers will do it.

---

Probably. I would think/hope that cleaning with rubbing alcohol and sanding off the contaminated layer would have fixed the issue. will probably have to bite the bullet and get new pad as part of trouble shooting.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by californiagrown

Probably. I would think/hope that cleaning with rubbing alcohol and sanding off the contaminated layer would have fixed the issue. will probably have to bite the bullet and get new pad as part of trouble shooting.

---

I've definitely tried to clean and/or sand contaminated pads as well with little success. I've heard some people baking them at high temps to decontaminate them but I've never tried that.

Miles Racing makes great pads for less than half of what Shimano charges. I use them and they work as well as the OEM ones.

https://www.milesracing.us/collectio...ano-brake-pads

^^^ 95% of the time I just use the cup to bleed the lever. No worry about contaminating pads or rotor.
I only bleed the whole system when the fluid is dirty or bleeding lever alone doesn't work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wes Mantooth

I'm feeling like modern bikes are taking that too far. It seems like everything you want to do requires some specific tool or part that a) local bike shops have for themselves but don't sell and b) costs way more than it should.

---

I don't have issues for most work I do, but had an interesting one lately. Tried to get my suspension serviced earlier this year but service kits were out of stock everywhere. Suspension shop had them in but ran out before they got to my bike. Finally found 200hr kits online and called them up. Now they told me they don't actually have the specialized tools from SRAM to service SID / SIDluxe. Not sure why they didn't say that the first time except maybe they were expecting to get them in. But yeah it's bizarre when even a suspension shop can't get the right tools. He said I'd have to have my LBS send shock/fork in to SRAM for service unless I just want to do basic service. I can do that myself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by californiagrown

Probably. I would think/hope that cleaning with rubbing alcohol and sanding off the contaminated layer would have fixed the issue. will probably have to bite the bullet and get new pad as part of trouble shooting.

---

If you’re able to squeeze the lever without it going to the bars, then you can be about 99+% sure that pressure is making it to the caliper. You can watch the pistons/pads in the caliper to make sure they extend and retract wen you squeeze and release the lever. If that looks right, then it sounds like contaminated pads/rotor. I’d get new pads; you may be able to bake/torch the contaminated pads to get some improvement, but likely won’t get them back all the way. Rotor should be fine if you clean it with alcohol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wes Mantooth

3 trips to the LBS yesterday just to simply replace a cable and housing. First I have to go buy the cable and housing, then I have to go back to have them trim the housing 1 inch because the guy cut it too long (despite having my old housing) and I don't have $40 housing cutters that I'll maybe use once a year, then I realize they sold me a cable that was 1" too short for my long ass bike so I have to get it swapped for one of those jagwire ones that could wrap around the earth. So like 1.5 hours for a 5 minute job (I'm surely to blame for several of these decisions so partially ranting at myself)

I've always been a proponent of the "right tool for the job" mentality but I'm feeling like modern bikes are taking that too far. It seems like everything you want to do requires some specific tool or part that a) local bike shops have for themselves but don't sell and b) costs way more than it should. I've been working on my bikes since I was like 12 and have even worked in shops and it's always been somewhat this way but seems to be getting worse and worse. Is this just a side effect of bikes being so damn unbelievable these days or is it an easy scheme to make us obsessed losers pump even more money into the bike industry? Most of my repairs seem to go this way where it's a simple task but I'm heavily delayed by not having a fully built out bike shop at my house

---

You're a proponent of "right tool for the job," but you're bitching about how your cable replacement didn't go smoothly because you don't own cable cutters, which are pretty high on the list of super basic bike tools.