Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

[XXX-er]

Sorry, but gotta get pissy here.
Disagree 100%
I understand what you're saying but but disagree with the sentiment. Innovation can also be in perfecting what's there.
.

I agree Innovation is most often not revolutionary, its evolutionary it slowly evolves which is why Shimano was bring back rapid rise for the 2nd time

that was exactly 20 yrs ago when Shimano was big and sucking pretty hard and dropped the ball

SRAM was not as big but trying really hard to be your bike company,

they had just bought Truvativ & roxshoxx and ever since I am just as likely to see SRAM on a bike as Shimano

[One (+) Sentence]

1x still sucks ass.

There is my rant. Fight me.

Totally. I feel the same way about plastic alpine ski boots.

[Roxtar]

My .02 regarding Sram vs Shimano is likening it to the Mac vs Microsoft wars of days gone past.
Microsoft was always the first to market. Get it out there and if (when) there are issues, we'll just send out an update patch to fix them on the fly.
Mac would wait, wait, wait,... and then boom, blow everyone away with a product that actually works exactly as promised.

Sram gets this shiny thing out, then this one, then this one.
Meanwhile, crickets from Shimano. More crickets, then more...
Till suddenly, they put out a product that may not be revolutionary tech, but absolutely perfect. And usually perfect right out of the gate.

[XXX-er]

1 x lets the designer do whatever they want down at the BB and I never lose the chain with 1x

[sfotex]

1x still sucks ass.

There is my rant. Fight me.

Front derailleurs on mountain bikes sucked ass. The wrong orbit of the planets would cause chain suck. Not planning your shifting the day before the ride would result in dropped chains.

[Bunion 2020]

Maybe learn how to shift properly?

You probably like Auto-transmissions too.

[toast2266]

I look at it this way: if sram didn't exist, we'd all still be running shimano 2x10 drivetrains. They'd shift nice and hold up reasonably well, and they'd drop a chain ever other ride. Suspension would still kinda suck since the main pivot location would be heavily constrained by the existence of a front derailleur, and we'd still be dealing with the issue of meaty rear tires not really fitting because of clearance issues with the FD.

I think I'd be running a pinion in that case. The death of the front derailleur is in the top 3 best things that has ever happened to mountain bikes.

[jackstraw]

Axle torque specs can f off!

Had to use a flat bar to get the axle/wheel free. This Blur has been a shitshow past couple weeks.

[Canada1]

I look at it this way: if sram didn't exist, we'd all still be running shimano 2x10 drivetrains. They'd shift nice and hold up reasonably well, and they'd drop a chain ever other ride. Suspension would still kinda suck since the main pivot location would be heavily constrained by the existence of a front derailleur, and we'd still be dealing with the issue of meaty rear tires not really fitting because of clearance issues with the FD.

I think I'd be running a pinion in that case. The death of the front derailleur is in the top 3 best things that has ever happened to mountain bikes.

Last week I was slumping out a century and kept getting spun out and thinking I need to go up a few teeth on the front. Then I would hit a really steep section and it was everything my old legs had to turn it over. Chain sucks do suck, but... I am amazed that more pro's don't still throw on a 2X. Would a guy like Swenson be able to put something on the front end that would allow them to go 60 on flats at Leadville? I often wonder if they are obligated by contract not to go there? Or maybe I'm just wrong and they feel the posibility of a chain suck is too great with a 2X.

[Terrapin Ben]

Unpopular rant - not a big fan of the 1x12 pie plate and giant ass rear derailleur modern drivetrain. A wider range (10/45) 11spd cassette that could use existing 11spd derailleurs and shifters seems more practical.

[rudy]

1x still sucks ass.

There is my rant. Fight me.

Don't need to fight but this is the worst take ever

[toast2266]

Last week I was slumping out a century and kept getting spun out and thinking I need to go up a few teeth on the front. Then I would hit a really steep section and it was everything my old legs had to turn it over. Chain sucks do suck, but... I am amazed that more pro's don't still throw on a 2X. Would a guy like Swenson be able to put something on the front end that would allow them to go 60 on flats at Leadville? I often wonder if they are obligated by contract not to go there? Or maybe I'm just wrong and they feel the posibility of a chain suck is too great with a 2X.

Chain suck is pretty low on the list of problems with FD's. If your chain and rings are in good shape, chain suck doesn't happen that much.

Bigger problems with front derailleurs:
Chain retention. The front chainrings necessarily have ramps, which are designed to make the chain come off the ring in a shift. Those ramps also make the chain come off when it's bouncing around on rough trails. 1x rings are all profiled to keep chains on. And running any kind of guide or retention device with a 2/3 ring setup is basically impossible.

And, as stated above, suspension design and tire clearance are both negatively impacted by the existence of a front derailleur.

I think FD's still make plenty of sense on road bikes. No suspension to interfere with, no tie clearance issues, and no rough trails bouncing the chain off. There's nothing inherently bad about front derailleurs - they just don't work on mountain bikes that are being ridden fast on rough terrain.

[Bunion 2020]

Don't need to fight but this is the worst take ever

That, is NOT a rant.

[John_B]

Axle torque specs can f off!

Had to use a flat bar to get the axle/wheel free. This Blur has been a shitshow past couple weeks.

I can't quite figure out WTF happened? Did your axle shear and allow the tire to jam into the frame?

[sfotex]

Chain suck is pretty low on the list of problems with FD's. If your chain and rings are in good shape, chain suck doesn't happen that much.

On the old 3x that granny gear loved to suck the chain in when it got muddy or dirty. But the really problem was there was so little clearance between the ring and the frame when it did get sucked in sometimes it wasn't coming out easy. I missed the 2x days so I don't know how bad the suck was with those.

Road bikes FDs work fine. The pros of a wide range of gearing outweighs the negatives.

[Roxtar]

The death of the front derailleur is in the top 3 best things that has ever happened to mountain bikes.

Some good points; this one being the best.

[muted reborn]

The death of the front derailleur is in the top 3 best things that has ever happened to mountain bikes.

Maybe top 50 but top 3? You'd put it before front suspension, rear suspension, disc brakes, carbon rims, larger wheel sizes, frame design improvements, and a few dozen other things, which may include some significant improvements to suspensions and small frame tweaks?

[toast2266]

Maybe top 50 but top 3? You'd put it before front suspension, rear suspension, disc brakes, carbon rims, larger wheel sizes, frame design improvements, and a few dozen other things, which may include some significant improvements to suspensions and small frame tweaks?

I guess I don't really consider things that happened in the 80's to count. Mountain bikes were still being invented back then, so I don't think of stuff like the existence of suspension and disc brakes in the same way I'd consider something like a dropper post. Suspension came into play as people figured out what mountain bikes could be. Dropper posts and 1x drivetrains were developed as people figured out how to make mountain bikes better.

Maybe I'm arbitrarily splitting hairs with all of that. But my top 3 would be dropper posts, mountain bike specific geometry, and 1x drivetrains.

[Bunion 2020]

Results vary.

I don't run a dropper post either.
To each, his own.

I'm going with, light, easy to adjust Hydro-disc brakes.

[jackstraw]

I can't quite figure out WTF happened? Did your axle shear and allow the tire to jam into the frame?

The axle unthreaded during the ride. I had just put the new triangle on and torqued the axle to the spec...which seemed light to me...and apparently it was. There was some foreshadowing as my shifting was f'n up here and there, but it's AXS and I'm a newbie on adjusting that shit, so I just kept going. It finally let go on a down and jammed. Deflating tire, loosening caliper, and prying a stick, I still couldn't get wheel free. Shocked the axle didn't bend or the rotor.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I think the following scenario has about an even chance of occurring:

This bike goes on sale in ‘my size’, even though I know it’s too aggressive a position:

https://www.canyon.com/en-us/road-bi...farbe=R100_P02

I ride the bike and get tremendous neck/shoulder/lower back/hand pain, and hang the bike up in the garage while I scour the internet for a deal on a SuperSix Hi Mod frame for the next two years while riding my 20 year old bike.

It’s happening….

Returned Ultimate w/ Dura-Ace showed up in clearance in XL for $6100.

[One (+) Sentence]

The axle unthreaded during the ride. I had just put the new triangle on and torqued the axle to the spec...which seemed light to me....

15nM of torque is not light. That’s like 135 in-lbs.

Did you tighten it to 1.5nM?

[toast2266]

The axle unthreaded during the ride. I had just put the new triangle on and torqued the axle to the spec...which seemed light to me...and apparently it was. There was some foreshadowing as my shifting was f'n up here and there, but it's AXS and I'm a newbie on adjusting that shit, so I just kept going. It finally let go on a down and jammed. Deflating tire, loosening caliper, and prying a stick, I still couldn't get wheel free. Shocked the axle didn't bend or the rotor.

Some bikes seem to just like to unthread their axles. My current norco does it (and has a pinch bolt retention to prevent it). I've had some other bikes in the past that'd occasionally do it too.

No idea why, and I don't really have a useful solution other than torque and thread locker.

[muted reborn]

I guess I don't really consider things that happened in the 80's to count. Mountain bikes were still being invented back then, so I don't think of stuff like the existence of suspension and disc brakes in the same way I'd consider something like a dropper post. Suspension came into play as people figured out what mountain bikes could be. Dropper posts and 1x drivetrains were developed as people figured out how to make mountain bikes better.

Maybe I'm arbitrarily splitting hairs with all of that. But my top 3 would be dropper posts, mountain bike specific geometry, and 1x drivetrains.

I think you mean things that happened (or became widely used) in the 90s, not 80s.

Bikes were pretty fun and fast before 1x drivetrains so I don't see how that would be anyone's top innovation ever but I'm not trying to argue or be right here. IMO you could say some advancements in existing suspension design drastically made bikes funnerer and fasterer.

[jackstraw]

^^No, my bigger torque wrench doesn't go that light.

I think I need to blue loctite it. And occasionally check it. Funny, but never had an issue with quick release style thru axles. They had that washer-teeth thing that seemed to help lock it in.

And I just remembered my friends Yeti had his axle back out several yrs ago also. He was the first one to have a hex bolt to tighten it.