Ask the experts

[rideit]

I take a highly scientific approach, utilizing decades of data acquisition.
I usually just turn the knobs this way and that, until I’m convinced that I solved some issue that was probably in me head to begin with.
Then I turn up the Giver-ometer a scoche to see if it helped.

[XXX-er]

as I understand it linear means the shock or fork has the same rate thru out the travel whereas progressive gets stiffer towards the bottom of its travel

[Gunder]

What's the difference between a progressive and linear *damper* (specifically rebound) tune?

.

All that they are doing is with the damping / rebound valves is changing the shim stack in the valves. Additionally changing the number of spacers in the air chamber.




This is an X2 of a ripmo.
Here they specked a large negative chamber spacer and 1 positive chamber spacer.

The compression / slow speed rebound use shim stacks to fine tune it. Ie red / blue units. The main bearing assembly has the shim stack for the high speed rebound.



This is a fully torn down Grip 2 damper. You can see all of the various shim stacks laid out.

You can tune the calving by changing the shims used.

Manitou on its website has some good information on various shim stack configurations.

https://hayesbicycle.zendesk.com/hc/...ning_Sheet.pdf

Now each shock / fork uses different porting on the valve block, but the manitou doc will give you a basic idea of how changing the shim stacks will alter the curves.

With a proper set of shaft clamps and a really good set of brass o-ring tools it’s pretty easy to play around with these.

The exception is you need a $500 tool to adjust the high speed rebound valving on an X2

And the Grip 2 requires a torque wrench that can measure as low as 0.23 nm to set the shim stack preload on the high speed rebound.

Almost all other systems don’t require more than basic tooling.

Fox has technical drawings for all of their products on their site. You can look in those to see what the stock shim stack configurations are with the sizing of each shim too.

[Dromond]

What bike is this on and what's your riding position?

Might not be your problem, but when I get lazy on my XC bike - covering miles on smooth terrain - I tend to lock out my elbows and carry / resting weight on the outside of my hand instead of relaxing my elbows and holding the grip like a baseball bat. I squashed through a set of silicon grips in Portugal like this.

Thread drift: where did you ride in Portugal?

[gramboh]

I'm switching from an 11 speed Shimano 11-28 to 11-30 cassette on my road bike, and putting a new chain on at the same time. Two questions: Will I need to adjust b-tension or cable tension (shifting is perfect right now) and will I need to make the new chain one link longer for the extra 2t big cog? Searching says no to second question.

[ticketchecker]

Was able to fix my brake issues with isopropyl alcohol and the crc de-sqeaket.

Attachment 463200

alcohol first, CRC second?

[rideit]

I'm switching from an 11 speed Shimano 11-28 to 11-30 cassette on my road bike, and putting a new chain on at the same time. Two questions: Will I need to adjust b-tension or cable tension (shifting is perfect right now) and will I need to make the new chain one link longer for the extra 2t big cog? Searching says no to second question.

No 2 can depend a little on chain stay length, IMO.

[toast2266]

I'm switching from an 11 speed Shimano 11-28 to 11-30 cassette on my road bike, and putting a new chain on at the same time. Two questions: Will I need to adjust b-tension or cable tension (shifting is perfect right now) and will I need to make the new chain one link longer for the extra 2t big cog? Searching says no to second question.

I think the answer to all of those questions is maybe.

[Andeh]

It's "a" - shaft speed affects how much damping is happening.

I believe a progressive rebound setup will allow you to run faster rebound so it'll come back quicker from big hits while still being more controlled and avoiding top outs in the early portion of the travel. Depending on the bike's leverage curve, that may or may not be beneficial.

That makes a ton of sense. And in hindsight, my shock with the progressive rebound tune lets me run a setting that gives me a much higher max rebound shaft speeds than I'm able to tolerate with a linear rebound tune.

[altacoup]

alcohol first, CRC second?

Yep clean with alcohol. Then spray with crc. Then wake up the entire neighborhood riding with brakes engaged. Just keep pedaling with the brakes engaged until it stops squealing, it’s LOUD at first.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ankle pain from cleat position on MTB? Left ankle in particular hurting quite a bit on rough downhills when clipped in.

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[Boissal]

Ankle pain from cleat position on MTB? Left ankle in particular hurting quite a bit on rough downhills when clipped in.

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Happen to me if my cleats are too far forward. Along with a lot of foot fatigue, sometimes to the point where I have to sit down for a sec...

Re: Stumpy, couple words of warning and something I wish I had known before buying mine (didn't do much homework at the time).
. The shock stroke is 45 mm for 130 mm of travel, meaning a really high leverage ratio. It find that it makes the shock way harder to tune, the sweet spot feels narrower than on longer stroke shocks. The fit is also tight as fuck, meaning not every piggy-back shock will fit. I did not get along with the DPS that came stock and options to replace it were limited.
. You can't fit a 200 mm rotor in the rear, not the end of the world but once you get used to that setup it's hard to go back
. The seat tube is quite long with a kink in it, meaning max insertion is rather short and you may run into dropper issues. I'm on a S4, 5'11", and it's an absolute battle to make a OneUp 210 shimmed to 190mm fit in there. Also, seat tube diameter is 34.9, meaning you deal with shims or a heavy ass post.

[grskier]

Ankle pain from cleat position on MTB? Left ankle in particular hurting quite a bit on rough downhills when clipped in.

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sure, leg is a chain of things... You could also be compensating for something else.

Where in your ankle? I'd get Achilles tendonitis sometimes and between some specific calf workouts and stretches I also found that I had those sorts of issues when I was only biking or only skiing and not working hamstrings or had a deficiency in support muscles.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

sure, leg is a chain of things... You could also be compensating for something else.

Where in your ankle? I'd get Achilles tendonitis sometimes and between some specific calf workouts and stretches I also found that I had those sorts of issues when I was only biking or only skiing and not working hamstrings or had a deficiency in support muscles.

It's like on the front/outside where the fibula ends. Feels sort of like a sprained ankle. I didn't do anything to it as far as I can tell and it only hurts when on the bike. So weird. Cleats are pretty much where I have always run them I think. New shoes this season so maybe thats it. IDK.

[Gunder]

It's like on the front/outside where the fibula ends. Feels sort of like a sprained ankle. I didn't do anything to it as far as I can tell and it only hurts when on the bike. So weird. Cleats are pretty much where I have always run them I think. New shoes this season so maybe thats it. IDK.

After I destroyed my ankle I began riding with custom orthotics. It’s amazing how much better it is even for my good ankle to be fully supported. Same idea as why they are good in ski boots too

[J. Barron DeJong]

After I destroyed my ankle I began riding with custom orthotics. It’s amazing how much better it is even for my good ankle to be fully supported. Same idea as why they are good in ski boots too

I moved my ski footbeds into my road shoes for the first time this year to try because of some discomfort I was having. Very happy with how that’s working out.


WRG, have you paid attention while pedaling to see if you have some amount of float in both directions, or if you’re pedaling hard up against the stop?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Hmm OK wow. I do have custom footbeds in my touring boots. They seem really super stiff though.....bad idea?

Also good point on the float. Maybe my right pedal is tighter or something.

[XXX-er]

what I have always done is get on the bike and pedal in whatever fashion I would normaly normaly do then stop and without moving my foot check to see if I am in the middle of the cleats float or hard up against one side of the travel

I got lots of foot beds but i don't use them in bike shoes

[J. Barron DeJong]

I got lots of foot beds but i don't use them in bike shoes

I don’t have any issues at all with my mountain shoes.

Got new road shoes two years ago and had been getting some foot numbness (totally different issue than WRG).

I’m a slow learner so it took me until this year to realize that maybe the custom footbeds I already own would be worth a try, and they’ve pretty much solved the problem.

[J. Barron DeJong]

They seem really super stiff though.....bad idea?

Maybe? The soles on my road shoes basically don’t flex, so no issue for me.

I’d assume your soles are softer and will flex some. Not sure if that’s going to damage/deform the footbed?

[XXX-er]

my feet are flatter than piss on a plate so I gotta have then in ski boots but I've just never found a need for a foot bed in any bike shoe road or mtn but of course ymmv

[zion zig zag]

Anyone using RevGrips? Did they solve any problems or are they snake oil?


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[Gunder]

Anyone using RevGrips? Did they solve any problems or are they snake oil?


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I have a set on my trail bike and e-bike. I’m a big fan of them. My hands are pretty fucked from duepetryns so I’ll take any help I can get with reducing vibrations. They do help quite a bit and I have them set up with the medium setting. I’ll probably go to the light setting next time I change the grips. One thing I have found is the grips seem to last a really long time compared to standard lock ons since they rotate slightly. I don’t think it even took one ride to get used to them either.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I think my insoles (masterfits) would be too stiff for the inevitable hike-a-bikes at some enduros. In road shoes it would make sense.


I am a shameless unsolicited preacher of the gospel of RevGrips. Every year, especially at places like Silver or Big Sky, I run into other riders/racers who are like, "My hands really hurt!" and they have these fucking trendy paper thin basically BMX street grips. Duh, no shit your hands hurt.

Unless you have tiny hands get the biggest diameter RevGrips and install them and give em a go. Your life will be changed.

[Andeh]

Anyone using RevGrips? Did they solve any problems or are they snake oil?


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Had them. Tried like 6 different versions of their grips because I knew a few people who raved about them. Hated them. The ones that have enough rubber to give good damping from the inner sleeve/bar give me wicked arm pump from overgripping. The ones thin enough to not cause overgripping hurt my thumb and edge of my hand from no cushion. Hated the outer lockrings (I like to hang my hands over the edge of the grip). My take on them is that the bit of rotational float they give is no more than what you get from being able to relax your hands a bit when you've got a good pair of normal grips. They provide less damping between your hand and the bar than a normal grip because the inner sleeve is thicker to make the mechanism work.

FWIW, I wear size medium gloves, and prefer a 30mm grip. I tried everything from their thin to thick original pattern, plus the half waffle and the RG1 & RG2. So I really gave them an honest try.

Grips are very much a personal preference thing, but I think often the solution to hand pain or arm pump can be something other than we think. I've solved forearm pump and wrist pain by stretching my shoulder & tricep. Plus brake setup, bar roll, etc. all make a huge difference.

RE: insoles. I've got really flat feet also, and need insoles for my ski boots. I've tried a few different "premium" ones (Superfeet, Sole, etc.) in my bike shoes, and what I find works best are the Specialized Body Geometry ones. They have a met pad/button, and have 3 different thicknesses depending on your arch height. Red is for flipper feet like mine.