Ask the experts

[Iowagriz]

^^^I've definitely thought about the dynamo hub, just haven't pushed myself over that threshold yet.

Current setup is a Serfas light, i think 1000L with a low of around 300L. Two battery packs for it that should get 3-4hrs each on low. I'll probably stick with this setup, but the weight and low maintenance of the Exposure is enticing. At least the Serfas battery packs also have USB outputs, so I can use those to recharge the Garmin and phone. They are slightly heavy as well and the charger is slow and bulky. On the plus side, the 2 batteries are 13000mah total/together.

[volklpowdermaniac]

Got myself in a little pickle :
Having a clamp issue on my hardtail
Brake : rear New SLX 7120 (four piston)
Shifter XTR 11 speed

So I was riding yesterday after finally getting the bleed right on the brake and whether I overtightened the bolt (forgot to double check with toruque wrench) or something else the clamp band itself broke (see pictures below)



So now I’m left to find a clamp band options I’ve considered
1) Jerry rig a clamp from another spare part - might work BUT if you can see in the picture the factory clamp has aTWO pivots one on the backside is like a colate (sp?) that hinges on the back side and another the main m5 bolt. Not sure if I can just bypass the colllate pin with a spare clamp but maybe?
2. Replace the clamp - the part number seems to be unobtainable, even the exploded views of the lever don’t number the clamp
3. Go to some sort of i spec integration but you have issue of old i spec a or b something on the shifter since it’s old 11 speed, and not sure the i spec integrates off the brake vs the shifter


I could just replace the whole lever - but they too are very very hard to find right now in SLX or XT.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever broken clamp on the newer -120 four piston brakes ? Hopefully that all makes sense
What to do?

[Dee Hubbs]

Hard to tell from your photo...
Do you just need a clamp to hold your x120 brake to the bar?
Or does it also have to hold your XTR 11 speed shifter (I-SpecII)?
Or do you have a SL-M9000-R that has a band to hold its self to the bar?

[volklpowdermaniac]

Hard to tell from your photo...
Do you just need a clamp to hold your x120 brake to the bar?
Or does it also have to hold your XTR 11 speed shifter (I-SpecII)?
Or do you have a SL-M9000-R that has a band to hold its self to the bar?

Yeah I realized pictures not great. The XTR SL 9000 has clamp of its own which was good, right now I’d setttle for any clamp that would hold the 7120 rear brake on bad, but not sure if a random clamp will play nice with the brake lever given the interesting way the stock lever is….


In this one you can see the extra cotter pin deal that serves as hinge for factory clamp which most random clamps (for like droppers, etc ) don’t have that.

[Dee Hubbs]

I might have a solution. Let me play with some parts in the garage tonight.

[volklpowdermaniac]

I might have a solution. Let me play with some parts in the garage tonight.

Thanks man! I will play with parts tonight as well and see where it gets me

[rideit]

Heh.
You guys are playing with your parts.
Heh.

[volklpowdermaniac]

Heh.
You guys are playing with your parts.
Heh.

I was gonna say “my parts” but yeah

[Sandbox]

Found some older road bike parts in my parts bin today… seem to be of decent vintage, any idea what they are worth? Anyone interested? Rear der is a RD6800.



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[Dee Hubbs]

Thanks man! I will play with parts tonight as well and see where it gets me

Of all of the clamps I have in my parts bin, nothing can be modified to work. You need a Shimano x100 series band.
The band clamp can be removed by punching out the pin closest to the lever. The following models share a band clamp that will work on your 7100. Look to buy a broken or even a new lever:
BL-M4100, Deore BL-M6100, SLX BL-M7100, XT BL-M8100, XTR BL-M9100, XTR BL-M9120.

If you're buying new lever, the following models share a lever blade that will work with your current 7100 (incase you ever brake your lever blade):
Deore BL-M6100, SLX BL-M7100, XT BL-M8100, XTR BL-M9120 (not the 4100, and not the 9100).
Left or right levers don't mater, the blade can be put on either side, just the spring is different, and you'll have that original side spring from your broken blade.

Sorry I thought I had a spare 8100 clamp, but when I looked in the levers bin, I remembered I used it last fall on a clients bike.

[evdog]

Have you considered going dynamo hub? I think i'd probably try that if I was going to be doing a tour that involved a lot of night riding. Then you always have a working headlight and can use a brighter helmet lamp when needed.

I had a dynamo on my hardtail. Really liked it. The fact you had constant light without having to worry about battery life or recharging was very nice. The downside is the light is less bright when slow moving. Ok for hike a bike but riding tech stuff at night with slow speed moves was no bueno when the light dimmed just as you crested the drop into some gnarly chute. So I either used my headlamp or plugged the dynamo light into my battery pack for full power. The dynamo is pretty useless for charging a battery pack, I think they only charge if you're going over 8-9mph.

I actually got more use of it for normal after work night rides than bikepacking, since our local rides are higher speed, and I didn't need to think about charging my lights. I used the dynamo on the AZT300. For the 750 I had gotten a new dynamo headlight but never got around to wiring it up. I just powered it off a portable battery pack at full power and used my USB headlamp on it's own for slower riding. Azt is about the most repeated night riding I do, which likely means I don't really need a dynamo. But still nice to have if you can get one. FWIW the Shutter precision is about half the price of the Son dynamo but has almost as much output.

[D(C)]

Here’s a weird one. I’ve been using a Cane Creek 40 ZS44/ZS56 headset that’s a few years old. For a while, I had noticed that I could not get the preload tight enough to remove all play, yet the dust cap would bottom out on the upper cup.

Well, I pulled the headset apart today. It turns out the upper cup’s flange had sheared off from the cup, which meant that tightening the top cap was just pushing the cup deeper into the frame without actually preloading the headset.

What do you think caused the flange to shear off? My theory is that I have been over-tightening my headsets, which results in excessive tensile force in the headset cup.

[toast2266]

I think if you were over tightening to the point of metal failure, your headset wouldn't have turned.

I would guess that there must have been a bad batch of metal from CC. Or maybe you were using the bike on a trainer a bunch and dripped sweat on it a lot?

[D(C)]

I think if you were over tightening to the point of metal failure, your headset wouldn't have turned.

I would guess that there must have been a bad batch of metal from CC. Or maybe you were using the bike on a trainer a bunch and dripped sweat on it a lot?

Maybe. I find angular contact bearings allow you to get away with a lot of preload without binding.

No trainer time for me, but I do sweat a lot.

Another theory is that I damaged it during an install. I don’t have a headset press so I tap in the cup with a rubber mallet.

Your theory about a bad batch is also plausible, though.

[Dee Hubbs]

Re Dynamo Hubs: I've built up some Custom Open Cycle bikes for a few serious bike packers/gravel racers.
We built some wheels with the Shutter Precision Hubs. A serious gear junkie lead us to these hubs, and I was really impressed by the quality of them, and the how nicely they laced up to We Are One Components Carbon rims.
A set of wheels I built with WeAreOnes Factions (27ID) rims, with Shutter Precision PD7 Dynamo 28h hub, DT Swiss 240 28h rear hub, DT Squorx Lock nipples and 2.0-1.8 butted spokes, he rode them to a top 10 finish at Unbound Gravel (Dirty Kanza) XL 350 mile, 25+ hour category.

[XXX-er]

What do you think caused the flange to shear off? My theory is that I have been over-tightening my headsets, which results in excessive tensile force in the headset]

I would bet its just material failure.

You can usually feel the headset bind when it is too tight,

if you can't feel how tight, take the heavy front wheel off

it will be easier to feel the headset

[volklpowdermaniac]

Of all of the clamps I have in my parts bin, nothing can be modified to work. You need a Shimano x100 series band.
The band clamp can be removed by punching out the pin closest to the lever. The following models share a band clamp that will work on your 7100. Look to buy a broken or even a new lever:
BL-M4100, Deore BL-M6100, SLX BL-M7100, XT BL-M8100, XTR BL-M9100, XTR BL-M9120.

If you're buying new lever, the following models share a lever blade that will work with your current 7100 (incase you ever brake your lever blade):
Deore BL-M6100, SLX BL-M7100, XT BL-M8100, XTR BL-M9120 (not the 4100, and not the 9100).
Left or right levers don't mater, the blade can be put on either side, just the spring is different, and you'll have that original side spring from your broken blade.

Sorry I thought I had a spare 8100 clamp, but when I looked in the levers bin, I remembered I used it last fall on a clients bike.

Thanks dude. That’s what I figured ugh.

[Dee Hubbs]

I’ve never seen one break. The one I replaced in the fall, the bike fell off the bike rack, and dragged on the road, and ground off the bracket.

[jm2e]

I'll bet if you contact Cane Creek they'll deny any known issues with bad headset cups. Then they'll file your report away with all the other ones they get about those bad cups. If you're lucky they'll offer you a 15% discount on replacement as a customer service gesture.

[Dee Hubbs]

I'll bet if you contact Cane Creek they'll deny any known issues with bad headset cups. Then they'll file your report away with all the other ones they get about those bad cups. If you're lucky they'll offer you a 15% discount on replacement as a customer service gesture.

I'd still buy 2 of CaneCreek's 110 headset (or 4x 40 series) before I would buy 1 Kris King Headset for the same price.

[jm2e]

Oh I totally agree. But I also think OEM headsets have gotten better and aftermarket ones are mostly just jewelry now. So of a guy wants his overpriced headset to match his wheels, brake hoses, and pedals, CK is the clear winner!
Cane Creek advantage is easy access to replacement bearings.

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[smmokan]

I'll bet if you contact Cane Creek they'll deny any known issues with bad headset cups. Then they'll file your report away with all the other ones they get about those bad cups. If you're lucky they'll offer you a 15% discount on replacement as a customer service gesture.

Funny, they did exactly that when I brought up the knocking issue with their Inline Coil shock. They claimed no knowledge of the issue despite hundreds of results online. Those guys can fuck right off.

[XXX-er]

I think all that means is your feet are more under you, I did the whole enchilada pre-covid and the only thing that hurt was everything else

but lots of old riders can't get with the new geometry

[toast2266]

Anyone have experience with long days on a bike with a super steep (77-80deg) seat tube angle? Any issues with your knees from that? Looking at a used frame but the STA has me wondering if it's going to be uncomfortable.

I don't find that steep STA's have any negative impact on my knees.

I find modern geo tends to put more weight on my wrists, which is generally a good thing while climbing and a bad thing for flat terrain. So if my long day on the bike was mostly climbing / descending, I don't think it'd be an issue at all. If it was mostly flat pedally stuff, I'd be less excited about a bike with super progressive geo. But that statement applies to the geometry as a whole; a steep STA is just part of the equation.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

How are you guys mounting bike computers on MTB with 35mm bars? I don't see any bar mounts that are for that size. Can't do top cap mount because of EDC tool. Have seen some top tube mounts on EWS racers that must be DIY. Want to mount my Bolt to my new bike. Top tube seems like a good spot.