Ask the experts

[Dee Hubbs]

Re: freehub grease:
You can thin out some regular grease with Tri-flow, or Shimano mineral oil.
Or ask your local shop for a few smears of Dumount into a small baggie.

[Andeh]

Dumonde makes both a freehub grease and an oil. I-9 specs either just the oil if you want loud, or a slurry of the oil+grease if you want quiet. I've also found that if you just put a lot of the oil in, Hydra will be silent for several rides.

[joetron]

I’ve been using a about half a pillow pack of Fox Float Fluid in my Hydra. It kept it fairly quiet for about 200 miles.


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[XXX-er]

I remember the kid who always won the XC race and should have won this one

excpet his brand new hub quit ratcheting, something about the grease

[jackstraw]

I think the answer everyone is overlooking is get rid of the hub with pawls! Then grease accordingly. [emoji16]

...Because I wish I could do that with all my hubs

[Falcon3]

I remember the kid who always won the XC race and should have won this one

excpet his brand new hub quit ratcheting, something about the grease

He should have put queso in there.

[evdog]

Has anyone installed a rebuild kit on a pair of HT Pedals? (AE03 - 2017+ I think). I've taken one side apart, but can't get the two bushings out. They are jammed inside the pedal body. Just sprayed with some penetrating oil, fingers crossed that will help. Any tips would be appreciated. I see on HT's website they sell (expensive) rebuild tools. Hoping those are not required to remove the bushings.

Getting back to this. Found a how-to vid which showed that I was trying to punch the smaller bushing out the wrong end of the pedal, haha. Link below for anyone doing this later on.

Punched the bushing out the correct end easily using a screwdriver and hammer. For the larger bushing I found a tap at home depot slightly bigger than bushing side that should thread in perfectly. Plan was to get a nut matching size and thread pattern of the tap and wind that on, then crank on the nut to extract the tap out from the pedal with bushing attached. Turns out the threads on the nut were too deep so that didn't work. Fortunately I was able to wrangle the tap out with some channel locks.

The rebuild kit arrived yesterday so I went to install it. Looks like I ordered the wrong one. The bushings are shorter and thicker than the ones in my pedal and they won't fit onto the spindle. Dammit. Will return those and order a set for the next older model of pedal. Process of elimination, that has to be the right kit. Would be nice if they stamped a version # on the pedals to help identify them. They all look the same. No way to tell which kit was the right one except trial and error.

https://www.facebook.com/HTcomponent...2577639761860/

[bagtagley]

Dumonde makes both a freehub grease and an oil. I-9 specs either just the oil if you want loud, or a slurry of the oil+grease if you want quiet. I've also found that if you just put a lot of the oil in, Hydra will be silent for several rides.

If I was only going to get one, I'd get the grease. The oil works really well, but needs to be replaced more often. I have both and go with the slurry as it's the best mix of longevity, lack of drag, and quietness IMO.

[Shu Shu]

JONG Question re axle to crown heights:

What is the relationship between fork travel and axle to crown in forks that can have travel adjusted E.g. Lets say a DC Fork is listed with Axle to Crown height of 600mm at 200mm of travel, and you reduce the fork travel to 180mm. Does it follow that the Axle to Crown reduces equally and would be 580mm?

[forty]

JONG Question re axle to crown heights:

What is the relationship between fork travel and axle to crown in forks that can have travel adjusted E.g. Lets say a DC Fork is listed with Axle to Crown height of 600mm at 200mm of travel, and you reduce the fork travel to 180mm. Does it follow that the Axle to Crown reduces equally and would be 580mm?

yes

the caveat being that on a dc fork you can also adjust a-c by moving the stanchions in their crowns, but this a different variable from internal travel changes

[Shu Shu]

Thanks forty

[XXX-er]

Pin design, placement, and platform shape matter too.

Again, if they're working for you, awesome. But saying they're definitely on par with other stuff is flat out wrong.

You are flat out wrong cuz they are better, cuz shop bro thru them in and I only had to spend 11.5 K

exaclty the same thing ( only different ) happened way back in the day when a different shop bro thro's in a pair of size 40 specialized clipless shoes, so I asked buddy if he had it in a size 39 to which he said " that shoe is free with the bike "

after processing for about 5 seconds it was obvious ... these shoes fit

[XXX-er]

He should have put queso in there.

happened a while ago, I don't even know what hub but it was something about hub lube on a new hub

buddy should have won cuz he was a machine, always won every race he entered, your takeaway is

don't try to race something you haven't tested

[jono]

Good takeaway.

Two good but incompatible greases can make a bad paste when mixed. Sort of like if he really did put queso in there.

Here's a tip of that iceberg (the chart shown is not the only one and others differ a bit--so testing is the only way to be sure, but you could also PM Timberridge if you wanted to annoy him):

https://www.machinerylubrication.com...-compatibility

[climberevan]

I've been using a blend of Phil Oil and Park plain grease in freehubs for many years. It works well.

[rideit]

Dumb Q that I really should be able to answer, but here goes. If I run a fork at 140 on a bike designed for 130, is there a benefit or downside to running 51mm offset vs. 42mm?
(Element, 140mm Pike)

Thanks!

[east or bust]

Dumb Q that I really should be able to answer, but here goes. If I run a fork at 140 on a bike designed for 130, is there a benefit or downside to running 51mm offset vs. 42mm?
(Element, 140mm Pike)

Thanks!

What was the offset on the stock 130 setup?

[rideit]

Bought as a frame.
I am running it with a 51mm 140, but I am curious if it can be improved. But I am aware of how small the difference is.

[Dee Hubbs]

What was the offset on the stock 130 setup?

Stock forks are 130mm with 44 offset (Fox) or 42 offset (Rockshox).

[rideit]

Dee, do you think it’s worth waiting?
I guess my question really is if overforking by 10mm will exacerbate the 51mm offset downsides even more.

[Dee Hubbs]

-Your to 10mm fork increase slackens the head angle by 0.48*
-The reduced offset fork (42) will increase the trail of the front tire. = Increased trail improves straight-line stability. The front wheel feels harder to turn but also harder to knock off line.
-The increase offset fork (51) will decrease the trail of the front tire. = The front wheel feels easier to turn and it can make a bike feel more nimble.

[rideit]

Yes, but often ‘nimble’ is felt as ‘twitchy’…kind of thinking I might just run it 130 with a 42 offset.

[toast2266]

^^^ to add to that
The reduced offset fork will effectively shorten your wheelbase by ~6mm. That's noticeable, particularly on straight, fast stuff. At least on some bikes, I find that the increased length of the longer offset fork makes the bike feel more stable in a straight line, despite having less trail. Also (barely even worth mentioning) the longer offset will slightly steepen your head angle compared the short offset, which probably isn't a bad thing when you're overforking.

Regardless of all that faff, I'd just run the longer offset fork. Especially on a bike like the Element where climbing matters, I think longer offset forks have better manners while climbing and at slower speeds. The shorter offset forks do better on higher speed corners, but the difference isn't that big.

[rideit]

All right, I think I will try and get a 51 offset 140 Pike…thanks, muchachos. Yes, this is my ‘climbier’ rig, for sure.

[mmmm...pow!]

Any tips to smooth out shifting on Shimano 12 speed? If I get it shifting good in the bigger sprockets, it's way off on the smaller ones and vise versa. XT shifter/chain, SLX derailleur/cassette. Chain, housing, cables brand new, bike is brand new so hangar is straight, and was having this issue to a lesser extent on the old bike. B screw and limiters seem to be fine. Out of ideas to try. Derailleur looks a little crooked, but it looks like it was built that way, trying to avoid buying a new one, especially if it could be the shifter.