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[sethschmautz]

Here’s a question for you oval ring experts - anyone noticed or heard of premature clutch wear on the derailleur from the ring?

I’d guess not, because even at a super hot cadence you aren’t cycling the clutch at nearly the same order of magnitude of frequency or magnitude of force impulse as descending a high chain growth ear end - but it did look funny seeing the derailleur wobble like that when spinning my cranks on the stand ...

/paranoid delusions

I watched a video that suggested this might be an issue. I only ran one oval and I'm not sure whether my clutch needed more or less maintenance then with round so I'd wager to say it's a non issue.

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[joetron]

I have an EXT Storia on order to replace my DPX2. Can you explain why you prefer the DPX?? I'm v curious.

Couple of things happened...
I really liked the EXT. It replaced a Float X2 that I never really got along with. I really liked the feel of the coil, especially on long, fast, rough descents and I thought the shock felt great, if a little noisy. After a solid 6 months of ride time (last fall and this spring/June/July) it needed a damper service and I took it off to send back to Suspension Syndicate.
DSD shares the property with my shop and I’ve spent a lot of time this summer with Diaz and Stucki talking suspension. Over the past 3 months I’ve shifted my squishy worldview from one that relied heavily on compression damping, to experimenting with and preferring close to wide open LS and HS unless I have a climb switch engaged.
Granted, I’ve also been riding primarily in Park City for the past 8 years and there are about 15 rocks there, so more LSC might make more sense.
Durango has a lot more going on in terms of chunky rocks and roots so open damping is necessary for proper kidney and wrist function. I was fighting my 36 the first few weeks I was riding here and one day decided to fully open my HSC and only go a few clicks in on LSC. It made a world of difference in grip and control and validated what the DSD boys and I had been talking about (then I put a Runt in and haven’t thought about compression damping in months).
So when I took off my EXT, I reinstalled the X2 and fully opened up LSC and HSC, it felt a lot better. But then Diaz offered up a take-off DPX2 that he’d tune and lengthen to give my Rallon another 10mm of travel (160 to 170), and that shock has been just awesome. Light, quiet and fast AF. I’m taking it up to Purg for laps tomorrow for a proper bike park beating, so we’ll see how it goes up there.
EXT is a moto company that started making mtb suspension and as such, relies heavily on compression damping, because that’s what they know. They spec lighter springs and use heavier damping tunes. This also helps keep their shocks lighter. I’m going to try and see if Cody can put a lighter compression tune in my EXT, although the Italians seem to frown on it.
This is just my personal experience based on how and where I ride, your mileage will certainly vary, but it’s something that’s been fun to experiment with.
Way back when I first started racing DH, one of the fastest dudes in CO at the time used to preach about opening everything up and let the suspension just do its thing. I did that for a while, then I thought as I learned more about suspension that I wanted to really twist knobs and have squishy spring rates with lots of compression tuning. I’ve kind of come back full circle and flick my climbing switch when I want a little more support but otherwise enjoy full open gooosh and all the traction and joy it brings to my life.


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[Shaaarrrp]

So how often this does happen? I want to say these are Deore XT, maybe a higher level


Happened on a simple curb jump in an open lot so I assume it was already failing....lucky it didn't happen elsewhere

[joetron]

That’s a very uncommon occurrence.

Those are FC-M610 cranks (according to the 2nd picture) which are Deore - a few steps below XT. They likely had some other damage or bend around that spot, but it’s hard to say from pictures.


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[El Chupacabra]

So how often this does happen? I want to say these are Deore XT, maybe a higher level


Happened on a simple curb jump in an open lot so I assume it was already failing....lucky it didn't happen elsewhere

Damn.

That's not XT, as it's not hollow, and you can see the cut-out part on the backside. Deore? Not that it matters; shouldn't have cracked in half anyway.

[HAB]

So how often this does happen? I want to say these are Deore XT, maybe a higher level


Happened on a simple curb jump in an open lot so I assume it was already failing....lucky it didn't happen elsewhere

That's a Deore level crank, not XT.

Still don't think it's a common failure. Glad you're okay.

[simple]

That is the kind of damage you only see on rental fleet bikes. Glad no one is hurt.

[NuMexJoe]

Only happened to me once, but it happens. Truvativ Stylo Team cranks, running SS, halfway between BV and Salida. Finished the ride, but got some funny looks as I rolled across the F-Street bridge.

[SchralphMacchio]

The legendary Tyrone Shoelaces definitely did that during a race many years ago ... I think XTR hollow tech crank on a single speed, but the details are fuzzy.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ok, so I looked over at my buddies bike at the bike park today and he has been using only like 3" of travel on a Fox 40 lol.....all summer!

He doesn't really know shit about bikes. At the end of the day we checked the air and it was only at 70. Lowered it to 50 and he is still only able to get like 4" out of it. WTF? Is this a result of never servicing the fork? He doesn't ride a ton or very hard. Fork is like 2 years old. Maybe 40 days on it total.

[jamal]

Does he have his compression adjusters turned way up?

[toast2266]

Ok, so I looked over at my buddies bike at the bike park today and he has been using only like 3" of travel on a Fox 40 lol.....all summer!

He doesn't really know shit about bikes. At the end of the day we checked the air and it was only at 70. Lowered it to 50 and he is still only able to get like 4" out of it. WTF? Is this a result of never servicing the fork? He doesn't ride a ton or very hard. Fork is like 2 years old. Maybe 40 days on it total.

Take all the air out and compress it. Does it bottom out smoothly?

My guess would be something is slightly bent / misaligned and it's binding up partway through the travel.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Does he have his compression adjusters turned way up?

It's a grip damper with just the one compression adjustment and he is running it all the way open.

[stradissimo]

It's a grip damper with just the one compression adjustment and he is running it all the way open.

There is probably too much oil in the damper leg. Wet-bath forks require air space above the damper oil. In the old days, I would fine tune the bottom-out resistance on Fox 32s by adjusting the oil height. The same trick worked on motorcycle forks.

Pop the top cap off the stanchion and I bet it compresses all the way. If there is way too much oil, it’ll spill out and make a mess unless you suck it out with a syringe.

[Shaaarrrp]

Would that crank breaking in half make you any more hesitant to trust adding the same part right back on the bike? Or the bike in general?

This is the bike it was on (Mongoose Ruddy Expert). It's probably not up to most TGR's rides and I know Mongoose makes some shit, but it's honestly been an amazing bike and a blast to own compared to anything I've had before. I'd prefer not to have to spend a few K to upgrade but I do ride it relatively hard and this scared me so I'm wondering if that's the line I should take.

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/gui...ert-27-5,17865

https://reviews.mtbr.com/sea-otter-m...-kids-fat-bike

[XXX-er]

if you are hard on a hard tail something will break, usually a spindle will break before a crank arm does,

my 16 yr old kid broke 3 square taper spindles back in the day, he could pretty much break them on command

when he got a full suspension bike he didnt break anymore spindles

but then he broke that frame completely in half

I'm betting there was a flaw in that arm

[XXX-er]

if you are hard on a hard tail something will break, usually a crank spindle will break before a crank arm does,

my 16 yr old kid broke 3 square taper spindles back in the day, he could pretty much break them on command

when he got a full suspension bike he didnt break anymore spindles

but then he broke that frame completely in half

I'm betting there was a flaw in that arm

[alpinevibes]

Spoke conundrum - I broke a spoke in July, having caught a 1" diameter branch in the back wheel on a climb. Got it replaced, and another broke 2-3 rides later with no known cause. Replaced. 4-5 rides later and the first replacement broke at the nipple, no known cause. I'm on a 2016 5010c with WTB 711 sti23 rims and SRAM 746 hub, with stock spokes. I don't ride particularly hard.

It's getting replaced today, but curious if there's some other underlying cause that could lead to the repeated breaks. Or maybe I just hit more crap than I know???

[Shaaarrrp]

if you are hard on a hard tail something will break, usually a spindle will break before a crank arm does,

Doubt it tells us anything but the crank arm had dislodged from the spindle once before so this was a replacement crank. That said, I'd been riding on the new one for a while

[teledad]

Spoke conundrum - I broke a spoke in July, having caught a 1" diameter branch in the back wheel on a climb. Got it replaced, and another broke 2-3 rides later with no known cause. Replaced. 4-5 rides later and the first replacement broke at the nipple, no known cause. I'm on a 2016 5010c with WTB 711 sti23 rims and SRAM 746 hub, with stock spokes. I don't ride particularly hard.

It's getting replaced today, but curious if there's some other underlying cause that could lead to the repeated breaks. Or maybe I just hit more crap than I know???

Could be spoke imbalance. Who is truing the wheel after the spoke replacements and do they know anything about wheel building? Could also be over-twisting the replacement spoke (easy to do on a replacement since the new spoke often binds in the older nipple, especially with aluminum rims). Or a bent rim that is being compensated for by over-torquing some of the spokes.

I'd probably do a rebuild (loosen all the spokes, re-tension and true). If the rim is bent when the spokes are loose you should replace it.

[schuss]

Random price check: original 26 inch mojo (lopes link) with a revelation XX and a mix of parts. In great shape - is $500 too much? Any vintage collectors?

[El Chupacabra]

Random price check: original 26 inch mojo (lopes link) with a revelation XX and a mix of parts. In great shape - is $500 too much? Any vintage collectors?

A complete, rideable bike? You can get more for that.

[schuss]

A complete, rideable bike? You can get more for that.

Yes, with a reasonably recent tune. Its just mostly from 2008.

[beaterdit]

Random price check: original 26 inch mojo (lopes link) with a revelation XX and a mix of parts. In great shape - is $500 too much? Any vintage collectors?

If everything’s in good working order ie: suspension’s been maintained, drivetrain isn’t worn out, dropper works well, good tires, then it’s worth $400 IMO.

[SchralphMacchio]

You guys don’t realize what COVID demand has done to used bike prices for reasonably maintained bikes ... even if the small wheel size depending on kit and condition it could possibly fetch $850 ... but I don’t know if your build has the awesomer stuff or the flexier heavier stuff.