Ask the experts

[Cabinfever]

Pretty much. Unless you learn how to do it yourself.


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[Andeh]

Basic fork oil change is not hard, and feels noticeably better after you do it. Once you know the drill, the actual oil change probably only takes like 15 mins, add another 10 on the front for pulling it off the bike and gathering the tools, and 20 on the end for reinstalling, aligning brake again, and cleaning up. I'd guess total cost to get set up (special Fox tools if applicable, oil, bulk pack of foam rings & crush washers) is probably around $100-150. But if you're really strapped for cash, get some buddies to go in on it.

A high end SRAM cassette like X01 will last ~3000+ miles. Ditto for XX1 chain. I don't have enough experience on Shimano yet to comment on their durability. Good bottom brackets (angular contact bearings or something not black oxide) will last years also. I'm not sure how durability transfers to the lower end cassettes, but I know the lower end chains don't last as long from some bike study that was done a while back.

No one but you can say how long pads & rubber will last. That's so dependent on trails and how much you drag brake. But yeah, I think everyone who is riding more this year is going through a crazy amount of tires.

[jamal]

Lower service is fairly important to do on time and the oil, seals, foam rings are like $20. Those foam rings collect dirt and if you leave it you'll score up the stanchions. I try to do that about twice a year. Full rebuild, usually every year, sometimes longer. On a rockshox you need a 10mm socket and a 5mm allen key to take off the lowers. Also take one of your seals to home depot and find a plastic pipe or pipe fitting that fits over it to use as a press tool.

[HankScorpio]

Is there anything that can get hot enough to “re-melt” the end of shifter cables? I always have to replace perfectly good cables when I remove them bc the fray at the end.

Will a small soldering gun work?


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[mall walker]

Lower service is fairly important to do on time and the oil, seals, foam rings are like $20. Those foam rings collect dirt and if you leave it you'll score up the stanchions. I try to do that about twice a year. Full rebuild, usually every year, sometimes longer. On a rockshox you need a 10mm socket and a 5mm allen key to take off the lowers. Also take one of your seals to home depot and find a plastic pipe or pipe fitting that fits over it to use as a press tool.

is "oil change" effectively what is meant by fork service? I couldn't manage to get the lower off my fork when I tried (was thinking of changing the travel) but I lazily left it on the bike / gave up pretty quick / had no tools / etc... I'm not horrified as much by the cost as by the 10-14 days it seems to take any shop around here to turn around any sort of service.

also my dropper post has begun making a bit of a grinding noise when raising from the fully dropped position... let me guess. this thing needs servicing as well... is this DIYable?

[XXX-er]

Is there anything that can get hot enough to “re-melt” the end of shifter cables? I always have to replace perfectly good cables when I remove them bc the fray at the end.

Will a small soldering gun work?


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maybe ^^, i might try to re-use a cable by twirling the strands back in place and cutting a bit off so it looks good enough to get thru the housing or whatever,

DO replace an inner cable that has unraveled past the anchor point cuz IME it will bind in the housing

IME der inner and outer cables may look ok but they get worn/grooved so between them the extra effort needed to shift will sneak up on you which you don't realize until you change them

You need to use crimped cable ends, if you use the cable ends just un-crimp them the other way to take the end off the cable and the cable will be less likely to be frayed, then you can also re-use the cable end

I have a big bag of ends, a stock of housing ends, I picked up a whole reel of der housing from a store that was closing, a stock of inner der & brake cable , none of this stuff is expensive and especily changing the der cables can make such a difference in effort

[grskier]

Lower service is fairly important to do on time and the oil, seals, foam rings are like $20. Those foam rings collect dirt and if you leave it you'll score up the stanchions. I try to do that about twice a year. Full rebuild, usually every year, sometimes longer. On a rockshox you need a 10mm socket and a 5mm allen key to take off the lowers. Also take one of your seals to home depot and find a plastic pipe or pipe fitting that fits over it to use as a press tool.

Or get the low friction push ones, probably not as good as double the cost, but it's PUSH so... you can definitely go like way faster... kinda like painting it red.
https://www.pushindustries.com/colle...19780569530455

[jamal]

is "oil change" effectively what is meant by fork service? I couldn't manage to get the lower off my fork when I tried (was thinking of changing the travel) but I lazily left it on the bike / gave up pretty quick / had no tools / etc... I'm not horrified as much by the cost as by the 10-14 days it seems to take any shop around here to turn around any sort of service.

also my dropper post has begun making a bit of a grinding noise when raising from the fully dropped position... let me guess. this thing needs servicing as well... is this DIYable?

There are two types of service- the quick, pull the lowers and replace the foam rings and seals, and then a full rebuild where you take apart the damper and air spring and change out the o-rings and actual damper oil. The oil that sits in the bottom of the fork legs is kind of just sitting there and maybe sometimes gets splashed up onto the legs and bottom of the bushings a little bit and possibly is mostly to collect dirt that gets through the seals.

I'm not even sure what kind of service the rock shox charger damper or fox stuff even needs but sram has service manuals on the website so anyone can look it up. The older RS fork on my hardtail I take it fully apart and change out all the o-rings and damper fluid and re-grease up the air shaft.

[toast2266]

Is there anything that can get hot enough to “re-melt” the end of shifter cables? I always have to replace perfectly good cables when I remove them bc the fray at the end.

Will a small soldering gun work?


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Just melt some solder into the cut end of the cable. That's a pretty standard thing with the old school crowd. If you're messy about it, you'll need to file / grind it down if you ever want to pull it back through the housing (or you can just cut the solder off when you want to remove the cable).

[beaterdit]

................. A high end SRAM cassette like X01 will last ~3000+ miles. Ditto for XX1 chain. ...............

Whaaaaa??? Sure you can get 3000 miles out of that cassette but I've also worn a couple out in less. XO chains tend to last 500-700 miles for me, I've gotten 900 out of one so far. 11 speeds lasted a bit longer at 0.75 replacement range but Eagle chains are supposed to be replaced at 0.5 stretch.

Mallwalker clean and lube (and clean) your chain regularly and get a chain measurement tool to monitor wear. Replace your chain at the recommended wear and you'll save the pricier components like the cassette. Also the chain gets noisy quicker when it's starting to get worn out. If the new one grinds on your chainring or skips on the cassette then those need replaced too.

[LeeLau]

I ride approx 150x per season spread over 3 bikes with an average of 20kms per season. Each chain gets replaced at 0.5 on the Park tool which equates to approx the season.

I'm on my 5th year on XX1 and XO1 cassettes due to such frequent chain changes

[mall walker]

Whaaaaa??? Sure you can get 3000 miles out of that cassette but I've also worn a couple out in less. XO chains tend to last 500-700 miles for me, I've gotten 900 out of one so far. 11 speeds lasted a bit longer at 0.75 replacement range but Eagle chains are supposed to be replaced at 0.5 stretch.

Mallwalker clean and lube (and clean) your chain regularly and get a chain measurement tool to monitor wear. Replace your chain at the recommended wear and you'll save the pricier components like the cassette. Also the chain gets noisy quicker when it's starting to get worn out. If the new one grinds on your chainring or skips on the cassette then those need replaced too.

hmm ok, thanks. I have some something or other gold dry chain lube (I’m in Utah after all) which I applied for the first time today, and might order the park tool for chain measurement. I’m at 426mi on my chain (57 hrs, just under 50k’) so who knows. I’m sure my chain is a cheap POS also so maybe I should just replace it

[bagtagley]

Soldering cable tips works well, but they’re so cheap online now they just get replaced instead.

[XXX-er]

exactly ^^ I think i paid 2.50 each for der/brake cables so i buy half a doz at a time

Even if you don't change the inner & outer cable changing that 9" loop of housing just before the der on a shimano der will make the most difference to you shifting

but why do a half ass job ... stock the parts and change ever thing

[toast2266]

Soldering cable tips works well, but they’re so cheap online now they just get replaced instead.

Definitely.

Frayed cable ends also don't bother me at all. The fray is all past the clamp, so I don't really care. I generally don't fuss with a cable until it needs replacing.

[Roxtar]

Just melt some solder into the cut end of the cable. That's a pretty standard thing with the old school crowd. If you're messy about it, you'll need to file / grind it down if you ever want to pull it back through the housing (or you can just cut the solder off when you want to remove the cable).

What did you use?
I love the idea of getting a nice soldered end but haven't had any success.
I've tried using soldering irons and a small propane torch, both with flux, and have never been able to get a decent bond.

[toast2266]

What did you use?
I love the idea of getting a nice soldered end but haven't had any success.
I've tried using soldering irons and a small propane torch, both with flux, and have never been able to get a decent bond.

Honestly I don't really remember. It's been 20 years since I bothered with it. But I think I just used regular solder / soldering iron.

[beaterdit]

What did you use?
I love the idea of getting a nice soldered end but haven't had any success.
I've tried using soldering irons and a small propane torch, both with flux, and have never been able to get a decent bond.

Haven’t tried this but I would think the principle is the same as sweating pipes where you heat the fitting more than the solder stick. Try heating the cable end a lot? Not sure if this reply belongs here as I am *NOT* an expert hahaha!

[climberevan]

Soldering modern stainless cables is a fool's errand. I've tried with badass irons and with torches, and I know what I'm doing with solder. I believe the factory ends are cut with something like a plasma cutter.

Just get some real cable cutters and cut it nicely, and it will go through the housing easily. Then crimp on a cable end thing, which your LBS will likely give you for free.

[Roxtar]

Haven’t tried this but I would think the principle is the same as sweating pipes where you heat the fitting more than the solder stick. Try heating the cable end a lot? Not sure if this reply belongs here as I am *NOT* an expert hahaha!

That was my first idea. I've sweated a ton of copper pipe and assumed that approach would be perfect.
Not so much.
I couldn't get the solder to draw up into the strand. It would just melt away in drops. Apparently, the properties of stainless steel don't work like copper.

[Roxtar]

Soldering modern stainless cables is a fool's errand. I've tried with badass irons and with torches, and I know what I'm doing with solder. I believe the factory ends are cut with something like a plasma cutter.

Just get some real cable cutters and cut it nicely, and it will go through the housing easily. Then crimp on a cable end thing, which your LBS will likely give you for free.

The crimp fitting looks clunky, IMO.
I've always used shrink tube because I like the clean look it gives but it does tend to eventually slip off. Adhesive lined shrink tube would be great but I've never found it in these small diameters.
That's why, for me at least, soldering would be the tits.

[abraham]

Yeah that's why many tools for soldering circuit boards are in some type of stainless. If the cable is stainless it's going to be hard to do

[beaterdit]

That was my first idea. I've sweated a ton of copper pipe and assumed that approach would be perfect.
Not so much.
I couldn't get the solder to draw up into the strand. It would just melt away in drops. Apparently, the properties of stainless steel don't work like copper.

Yeah bummer. Candle wax might be a good non-permanent method if you’re just trying to get it through the housing? I just end up using the standard crimped ferrule or whatever it’s called for a life-of-the-cable solution. I don’t like frayed cables either.

[grinch]

I remember back in the great again depression we'd solder the ends of our cables and reuse them. Ah the good ol days

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[rideit]

We used to make our own cables from hemp string during the war.
And let’s not forget wooden brake blocks.