Ask the experts

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Originally Posted by Huskydoc

I got to chatting with a guy at the top of a climb about bike parts yesterday. Claims his I9 hydras, and hub upgrades more generally, accomplish a huge improvement in one's experience. I'm... Still a little skeptical. What am I buying exactly? More precise ratcheting? Longer service intervals? Does higher POE correlate with a proportionally better experience?

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Hydras sound cool, come in cool colors, are made in USA, and the bearings are super easy to service with minimal tools. The high engagement is nice for ratcheting or techy bits, but can make bikes with really high pedal kickback feel worse. It's essentially instant engagement. The bearing sealing isn't awesome.

Compare to DT Swiss, which are only in black, made in Asia, and the bearings are are easy to service with once you buy really expensive tools. But the bearing sealing seems a lot better. The 54t ratchet gives you pretty high engagement, but riding back to back with Hydras, there is a little bit of play into a thunk for engagement.

I have both. I like both, but if I was on a budget, or was just trying to min/max, I'd get DT 350s for sure.

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Originally Posted by XtrPickels

I'll echo this advice. It's relatively easy to find if you're in the ballpark using a Knee over Pedal Spindle positioning. It was in-vogue for a while to crap on this - around the time that people discovered steeper seat-tube angles for triathlon - but I think it still holds merit for "normal" bikes being ridden in a variety of terrain. So, while I will not advocate that this is the end-all-be-all, in this case I think it's useful to see if a Setback or Zero offset seat post is best.

1. Set Bike in Trainer
2. Level Bike (using a level between front and rear axles works well.
3. Find a Friend
4. Sit on saddle in comfortable position
5. Have friend make sure your are sitting with the crank arms level (at 3 and 9)
6. Have Friend drop a plumb bob from the bony protrusion on the tibia (shin) just below your knee cap - not the knee cap itself
7. The plumb bob should fall to the inside if your foot with the string passing by the pedal spindle
8. Have friend observe if the string is in front of, lightly touching the pedal spindle, or distinctly pressing on it.
9. Adjust saddle forward or backward until the string is lightly grazing the front of the pedal spindle
10. Repeat process for other side
11. If the opposite side is drastically different positioning, contemplate why you're sitting crooked on the saddle
12. Crack open a beer, chug
13. Give up and go for a ride.

If you are unable to achieve the proper position with your current seatpost - or your saddle is slammed completely forward on the rails, then a zero-offset is likely beneficial. Once this is set, I would then adjust the cockpit as needed. It wouldn't be uncommon to come down to an 80 or 70mm stem or to use a shorter reach handlebar.

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Whoa, thanks coach. Will this work on my, wheel off smart trainer? Also, if I went to an 80mm stem, will the bike feel twitchy? It came stock with a 100 and I have already gone to a 90.

Any tips for removing a really stuck caliper piston on some guides? Doing a caliper rebuild and one of the pistons seems very thoroughly attached to the piston seal.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by Blaster

Any tips for removing a really stuck caliper piston on some guides? Doing a caliper rebuild and one of the pistons seems very thoroughly attached to the piston seal.

Thanks

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Take a chunk of wood that fits tightly into the caliper (with no pads in it). Drill a piston sized hole in the appropriate place for the stuck piston. So 3 pistons should hit the wood fairly immediately, and the stuck piston can extend into the hole. Now squeeze the lever.

You can accomplish the same thing by modifying a bleed block, if you have a spare one lying around.

Honestly I’ve normally just replaced calipers with stuck pistons… might be a bit wasteful but I’ve had a few pairs I’ve spent hours working on without success. Shimano I’ve cracked a few pistons that are stuck.

I have some good condition guides I my parts bin. Let me know if you need a caliper.

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Originally Posted by Blaster

Any tips for removing a really stuck caliper piston on some guides? Doing a caliper rebuild and one of the pistons seems very thoroughly attached to the piston seal.

Thanks

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Worked like a charm. Thanks

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Originally Posted by Huskydoc

I got to chatting with a guy at the top of a climb about bike parts yesterday. Claims his I9 hydras, and hub upgrades more generally, accomplish a huge improvement in one's experience. I'm... Still a little skeptical. What am I buying exactly? More precise ratcheting? Longer service intervals? Does higher POE correlate with a proportionally better experience?

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You can do a lot better than I9 for a lot less $.

Any feedback on the Fox 34 Performance Elite Fit4 vs. the Performance Grip? Looks like you lose the lockout on the Grip (which I don't need), but maybe the damper is better?

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Originally Posted by panchosdad

Any feedback on the Fox 34 Performance Elite Fit4 vs. the Performance Grip? Looks like you lose the lockout on the Grip (which I don't need), but maybe the damper is better?

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I have the 2021 iteration of the FIT4 fork, and it rides like buttah. However, the bushings came loose after only 130 miles out of the box. Fox did fix it for free, and I only had to pay for shipping from my LBS to the factory.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

You can do a lot better than I9 for a lot less $.

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What is your favorite *affordable* high-engagement hub? I’m looking to build a new rear wheel and I’ve grown tired of issues with Hope hubs’ lack of durability. (not high-engagement either)

I've used I9's system wheelsets on the last four bikes I've owned. I put them on Mrs Roxtar's last three.
There's a reason (beyond just the beautiful looks). In all that time I have yet to have the slightest inkling of a problem.
They've been completely set and forget.
I built up a Canfield Balance for a buddy about 8 or so years ago with pre boost I9 Torch wheels.
Still running perfect with one bearing change.

Are there cheaper wheels/hubs? Sure.
Are there better? I don't know.

Alright...

Dumb shifting question that has just been stumping me.

I have an Xo1 Drivetrain. Quite a few miles on the shifter and RD (hair under 5000). The chain is fairly new (700 miles) and measures under .5. It's freshly waxed and in good condition. Hanger is perfect. Fresh cable and housing. 3500 miles on the cassette. Same front chainring for a while and proper offset. New Pulley wheels for the RD like 800 miles ago. I have not played with the Bscrew and it was shifting great previously.

It's started randomly dropping 5-6 gears at a time. This happens when I pedal hard in one of my lowest three gears but only a few times per ride. You can kinda feel the chain wanting to drop as you pedal harder. Once it drops it binds but can slowly climb up if you can soft pedal a bit. It only feels that way in the lowest three gears and gets worse as you get closest to the lowest gear.

The last culprits I'm leaving on the table are the cassette (It's been a fairly quick transition to this type of behavior though which throws me a little) or that the cage for the RD is bent and I'm just not seeing it. My guess is that it's the RD... but the only way I can think to test the latter theory is to just buy a new RD which I'm not thrilled about if it doesn't fix the problem. The shifter feels fine and isn't gunky at all.

Thoughts?

The most lowest hanging fruit to check first would be confirming that the rd is tight on the hanger.
Not trying to be a dick…but speaking from experience


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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Originally Posted by joetron

The most lowest hanging fruit to check first would be confirming that the rd is tight on the hanger.
Not trying to be a dick…but speaking from experience


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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Same experience here. My Sram derailleur likes to randomly come loose and the shifting slowly gets wonky.

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Originally Posted by simple

Same experience here. My Sram derailleur likes to randomly come loose and the shifting slowly gets wonky.

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That's definitely a feature across the entire sram lineup. Always the first thing to check with any sram shifting issue.

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Originally Posted by scharny

What is your favorite *affordable* high-engagement hub? I’m looking to build a new rear wheel and I’ve grown tired of issues with Hope hubs’ lack of durability. (not high-engagement either)

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I have Nukeproof Horizon V2 wheelsets on two bikes, and a spare in the box for a future build. Check tension when you get them, and then they're great. Not the lightest, but 32 J bend spokes, 6-pawl rear hubs, high engagement (120 POE? something like that), cheap kits to interchange between XD, microspline, or HG. Come taped and with valves for tubeless. Often available in a kit with inserts (cush core type inserts) and some sealant for $325-350 ish, for everything. Nukeproof builds these with a slightly lighter front rim and slightly heavier rear rim.

Are DT 240s better? Yes. Cheaper? Not by a long shot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joetron

The most lowest hanging fruit to check first would be confirming that the rd is tight on the hanger.
Not trying to be a dick…but speaking from experience


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by simple

Same experience here. My Sram derailleur likes to randomly come loose and the shifting slowly gets wonky.

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Originally Posted by toast2266

That's definitely a feature across the entire sram lineup. Always the first thing to check with any sram shifting issue.

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Can confirm.

Good thought on the RD being loose but I have shifted to using a torque wrench for everything and the RD and hanger are property torqued. Same with the rear axle (which have really high torque specs on pivots).

My bet is on the RD cage because it seems like some sort of flex has to be causing the issue but any other things I should look at?

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Originally Posted by toast2266

That's definitely a feature across the entire sram lineup. Always the first thing to check with any sram shifting issue.

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Anyone in Seattle have a spare wheel box or should I just cut up the bike box I have.

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Originally Posted by carlh

Anyone in Seattle have a spare wheel box or should I just cut up the bike box I have.

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Call a few shops and see who’s holding. The shop I used to work at always had a few bike, fork, wheel, and ski boxes kicking around.

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Originally Posted by Tailwind

My bet is on the RD cage because it seems like some sort of flex has to be causing the issue but any other things I should look at?

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Those pivots do wear out! I just had it happen on a high mileage axs rd. There is plastic bushings around the pins that wear out. Remove RD and disconnect cable to check for play.

Other option is the shifter may be bad and is no longer properly holding the rd in each gear. Might be worth seeing if it’s packed full of crud.

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Originally Posted by Blaster

Any tips for removing a really stuck caliper piston on some guides? Doing a caliper rebuild and one of the pistons seems very thoroughly attached to the piston seal.

Thanks

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Looks like you solved it. But my trick for popping out pistons is to stick a correctly-sized allen key in the caliper’s rotor slot as a piston block, then pump the brakes until all pistons extend against the allen key. If there’s one that’s still not moving, you can help it by hooking up a syringe of brake fluid and further pressurizing the system as you squeeze the lever.

Ok so 2023 Zeb Ultimate installed. Diaz worked on it and it needed a bunch of work even thought it was BNIB. Instantly feels good just rolling around the neighborhood. Makes me realize how shit my other Zeb was even when it was brand new. This thing is plush. With my own tinkering on sag I landed at 62psi. Recco for my weight it 60psi. I'm starting with rebound -11 from closed which is the recco. Why doesn't the RS tuning app not give any guidance on compression settings?

What are you guys running for HS and LS compression?

Edit: Seeing some more stuff online pointing to running less sag which helped me make the other Zeb at least tolerable. So 62psi is putting me at 30% for sag. Gonna bump up to 20% sag.

Edit again: I just double checked my measurements and I'm at 23% sag and no tokens. LSC fully open and HSC 2/5 . Gonna start there and see how it feels.

I'm running my Zebs ('23) right at whatever pressure the Trailhead app says for my weight, which gave me 20% sag on both the Nomad and ebike (which apparently adds 10 psi). I run both rebounds 1 click faster than the app. I'm running HSC wide open, I think my LSC is 1 click from open on the Nomad, 2 clicks on the ebike. 1 token for 170mm travel on both.

It ran pretty fucking good on a short trail ride tonight. Sooooo much more small bump sensitivity than my old fork. So much more grip. I ended up speeding up the rebound from -11 to -13 because it seemed a bit slow at first. Compression settings felt good to start. No big hits so we will see at the bike park this weekend, but thinking I may need to put in some more air and give it even less sag. All in all though it runs super nice.