Ask the experts

[Dee Hubbs]

So, I went and measured - just beacuse. And the Shimano adapter I had on the bench is 10mm on one side and 8-9mm on the other side.
This I don’t understand

Because the 2 mounting posts are in parallel, not in line with the radii intersect of the rotor.
And that why you need to use convex washers between the bolt head and caliper when using adapters. The face of the caliper face is no longer perpendicular to the bolt head.

If you're going from a 180mm *dia* rotor to a 200mm *dia* rotor, the *radius* increase is 10mm. Actual post height changes will be a little bit different than the radius change due to posts not being exactly centered around the axle.

I guess my sarcastic emoji was not obvious enough on my "so the 20mm adapter is only 10mm?"

[Dee Hubbs]

Any of you nerds know how to find the Cane Creek or better equivalents for these bearings? My headset sounded like it had rocks in it this weekend.

Upper bearing: FSA MR122
Lower bearing: FSA MR127

Uppers are:
Full Speed Ahead ACB Headset Bearing - 36 degrees x 45 degrees, 1 1/8", Black Seal MR122 (873E-RS),
Thickness: 6.5,
Material: Chromoly Steel,
Bearing O.D. (mm)41
Bearing I.D. (mm): 30.2

Options are:
Enduro 1-1/8" 36 x 45 degree Stainless Steel Angular Contact Bearing 30.2mm ID x 41mm OD: ACB 3645 SS-BAG
Cane Creek ZN40-Bearing 41mm Zinc Plated, BAA1130
Cane Creek Hellbender Bearing, 41mm SHIS: BAA1054

Lower is D = 40, OD = 51.8, IA = 36, OA = 45, H = 8

Cane Creek ZN40-Bearing 52mm Zinc Plated, BAA1132
Cane Creek Hellbender Bearing, 52mm SHIS, BAA1055

Or non nerd talk.
Upper: ZS44/28.6 upper assemblie
Lower: ZS56/40 lower assemblie

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Uppers are:
Full Speed Ahead ACB Headset Bearing - 36 degrees x 45 degrees, 1 1/8", Black Seal MR122 (873E-RS),
Thickness: 6.5,
Material: Chromoly Steel,
Bearing O.D. (mm)41
Bearing I.D. (mm): 30.2

Options are:
Enduro 1-1/8" 36 x 45 degree Stainless Steel Angular Contact Bearing 30.2mm ID x 41mm OD: ACB 3645 SS-BAG
Cane Creek ZN40-Bearing 41mm Zinc Plated, BAA1130
Cane Creek Hellbender Bearing, 41mm SHIS: BAA1054

Lower is D = 40, OD = 51.8, IA = 36, OA = 45, H = 8

Cane Creek ZN40-Bearing 52mm Zinc Plated, BAA1132
Cane Creek Hellbender Bearing, 52mm SHIS, BAA1055

Damn dude thanks!

[Dee Hubbs]

Damn dude thanks!

See my edit of non nerd talk:
Upper: ZS44/28.6 upper assembly
Lower: ZS56/40 lower assembly

[zion zig zag]

Called my kid that works at a bike shop to have him order me the parts. He said my Guides suck and I need new TRP's.

Bike shop employees are all the same, even when family apparently.

[XXX-er]

IME having the kid working at a bike store one does not get great deals

becuz one just buys more expensive bikes which don't have much of a margin

so you spend WAY more money and don't get much of a deal

[Andeh]

Any of you nerds know how to find the Cane Creek or better equivalents for these bearings? My headset sounded like it had rocks in it this weekend.

Upper bearing: FSA MR122
Lower bearing: FSA MR127

You can use the normal ZS44/56 Cane Creek 110 or Hellbender bearings in the GG cups. I did that on mine.

You can also use Chris King bearings in there too, but if you want to use the pretty King headset cover, you need to put a couple shims in there because the GG one is slightly taller. And probably use the crappy GG plastic split washer.

[bean]

Is now the time to buy a bike, or are prices going to keep falling? I'm kicking around getting a Stumpjumper Evo or similar (but price/build on the specs seem hard to beat), not in any big rush...but seeing 28% off on nice builds is really tempting.

[Dantheman]

Is now the time to buy a bike, or are prices going to keep falling? I'm kicking around getting a Stumpjumper Evo or similar (but price/build on the specs seem hard to beat), not in any big rush...but seeing 28% off on nice builds is really tempting.

I'm not in the market but I've been assuming that it will be a bloodbath in the fall. I don't have a crystal ball though and "a bird in the hand" etc. I guess it depends on whether your highest priority is saving the most money possible or riding a new bike this season

[g_man80]

That about sums it up. One additional consideration is the size of bike you’re looking for. There’s a good chance Larges will sell out before discounts get to the 30%-40% off range.

[XXX-er]

I sat across the table from an LBS owner I know very well who told me the margins are just too small and there will be a lot of blood, both shops and brands

he said its been brewing since 2018 he figures the way to survive is on the shop work

[toast2266]

Is now the time to buy a bike, or are prices going to keep falling? I'm kicking around getting a Stumpjumper Evo or similar (but price/build on the specs seem hard to beat), not in any big rush...but seeing 28% off on nice builds is really tempting.

There are a bunch of good prices right now because companies with buying power (i.e. Specialized) placed massive orders when the general public was binging on exercise equipment during Covid. But then those massive orders got hung up (due to supply chain and shipping issues), so they didn't actually get the product until the feeding frenzy had mostly subsided. So now that the buying market is relatively cool, those companies are stuck with more product than they can sell (from what I've heard, Specialized has something like a billion dollars worth of extra product on hand, hence the big sales).

But I don't see that continuing - I think the glut of covid-era product orders have mostly arrived in North America now, and companies certainly aren't continuing to place big orders; they can't even sell what they currently have. So my prediction is that these sales will continue until the current overburden of product has sold off, and then the market will more or less return to normal for next year. I think there'll be some really good deals on stuff this fall / winter, but only in the most non-popular sizes. If you need a middle of the bell curve size, I don't think you're going to do much better than right now. I bet prices on used stuff will lag ~6 months behind prices on new stuff, so used bikes will be a bit cheaper until this time next year.

[bean]

I'm not in the market but I've been assuming that it will be a bloodbath in the fall. I don't have a crystal ball though and "a bird in the hand" etc. I guess it depends on whether your highest priority is saving the most money possible or riding a new bike this season

That about sums it up. One additional consideration is the size of bike you’re looking for. There’s a good chance Larges will sell out before discounts get to the 30%-40% off range.

There are a bunch of good prices right now because companies with buying power (i.e. Specialized) placed massive orders when the general public was binging on exercise equipment during Covid. But then those massive orders got hung up (due to supply chain and shipping issues), so they didn't actually get the product until the feeding frenzy had mostly subsided. So now that the buying market is relatively cool, those companies are stuck with more product than they can sell (from what I've heard, Specialized has something like a billion dollars worth of extra product on hand, hence the big sales).

But I don't see that continuing - I think the glut of covid-era product orders have mostly arrived in North America now, and companies certainly aren't continuing to place big orders; they can't even sell what they currently have. So my prediction is that these sales will continue until the current overburden of product has sold off, and then the market will more or less return to normal for next year. I think there'll be some really good deals on stuff this fall / winter, but only in the most non-popular sizes. If you need a middle of the bell curve size, I don't think you're going to do much better than right now. I bet prices on used stuff will lag ~6 months behind prices on new stuff, so used bikes will be a bit cheaper until this time next year.

No real urgency, with what I've got scheduled for summer I'd probably be doing well to get on it 3 times before late August. Probably S4/Large if I were to go SJEvo so definitely a more popular size.

Wish I had a crystal ball, would be nice to pick something up in another month or so. Of course if there are still bikes in my size come November I'll kick myself if I do get something now..

When do next-year bikes start arriving to shops typically?

[snowaddict91]

My LBS friends all seem to think that these sales won't last through the fall on the common sizes. I was in the same boat of trying to wait till fall, but prices got too good for me to resist any longer. I think the used market will be a buyer's paradise for a while though.

[toast2266]

When do next-year bikes start arriving to shops typically?

Depends on the company, but usually things start trickling in October-ish.

[Dee Hubbs]

No real urgency, with what I've got scheduled for summer I'd probably be doing well to get on it 3 times before late August. Probably S4/Large if I were to go SJEvo so definitely a more popular size.

Wish I had a crystal ball, would be nice to pick something up in another month or so. Of course if there are still bikes in my size come November I'll kick myself if I do get something now..

If it was me, my Specialized shopping technique would be:
Decide how far you’ll drive to buy a bike. *Example 200 miles.
Use the “in store stock” tool for Stump Evo S4, call ever shop with a large in stock within *200 miles to see the color, build, quantity the have in stock. Make sure it’s actually on the floor, not just “available from specialized warehouse”.
Make a list who has this bike that you may want.
Watch the prices on line, if the prices drop again, buy one on line.
If the online inventory goes to zero before the price drops, call the shop 70 miles away and see if they still have that one in stock to buy it. Or go to the shop 100 miles away to buy it. Chances are one of these shops will still have one on the floor after Specialized Warehouse goes to zero.

[jm2e]

Anyone have a "best" option for suspension service in the States?
Tried to get my shock directly to Fox, but they're a month out.
Have used DirtLabs in the past, but figured I'd check in here before sending it off.
I'm not looking for magic dust and unicorn tunes. Just solid service with a good turnaround.

[simple]

Then the best is probably local to you. Shipping just delays the process.

My guy does work for individual customers, bike shops, and a couple bike brands in town.

No more than a couple day turnaround.

[Johnny Utah]

Loosely related, but how many of you keep an extra shock in rotation to avoid service downtime and protect your endless summer? Same shock or different (eg air vs coil)? And now I’m curious if any shops have considered offering a rotation of common shocks to improve turnaround time. Assuming I could get the right tune (maybe too many variables here?) and reliable quality, I probably wouldn’t care if I wasn’t riding _my_ shock so long as I never needed to wait more than a day for service. Seems like something Fox service dept could pretty easily manage. (they wouldn’t do this nefariously, but… do you always check your serial numbers after return?)


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[joetron]

As a shop owner, I try to keep at least one spare shock for each of the bikes I sell, so if a customer has a warranty issue we can keep them rolling. Granted, it’s a small service focused shop that sells Revel and GG, so there’s only a few.


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[toast2266]

Loosely related, but how many of you keep an extra shock in rotation to avoid service downtime and protect your endless summer? Same shock or different (eg air vs coil)? And now I’m curious if any shops have considered offering a rotation of common shocks to improve turnaround time. Assuming I could get the right tune (maybe too many variables here?) and reliable quality, I probably wouldn’t care if I wasn’t riding _my_ shock so long as I never needed to wait more than a day for service. Seems like something Fox service dept could pretty easily manage. (they wouldn’t do this nefariously, but… do you always check your serial numbers after return?)


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I've got an extra shock lying around that I took off an old frame. It's a different stroke than my current bike (but same eye to eye), so it reduces travel a little bit. But it keeps me riding when needed.

[Dee Hubbs]

Speaking of extra shocks, I have an extra case of Fox Float DP X2 Trunnion 205 x 62.5. If that size fits your bike I'll sell you one for cheap as chips.

[toast2266]

Speaking of extra shocks, I have an extra case of Fox Float DP X2 Trunnion 205 x 62.5. If that size fits your bike I'll sell you one for cheap as chips.

What's the tune on them? I'd potentially take one of those off your hands.

[Dee Hubbs]

What's the tune on them? I'd potentially take one of those off your hands.

Serial number is: 828346-0016-T
Fox Service page lists it as:
Part number: 973-82-055
Description: 2020, FLOAT DPX2, P-Se, A, 3pos-Adj, Trunnion, Evol LV, Giant, Reign Adv, 205, 62.5, CM, RLA019, Rezi A F M, TA Black Matte/TA Black Matte Logo

[toast2266]

Serial number is: 828346-0016-T
Fox Service page lists it as:
Part number: 973-82-055
Description: 2020, FLOAT DPX2, P-Se, A, 3pos-Adj, Trunnion, Evol LV, Giant, Reign Adv, 205, 62.5, CM, RLA019, Rezi A F M, TA Black Matte/TA Black Matte Logo

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