Ask the experts

[simple]

My newer bikes have Praxis carbon cranks. I honestly haven't seen any better bang for the buck for this high quality of crank and bottom bracket. SRAM XO on wife's bike is nice. DUB yo

Not sure what y'all are talking about but had to shout out Praxis as really good stuff

[Roxtar]

still working on establishing my dental practice.

But when it's up and running...
https://ride5dev.com/collections/cra...itanium-cranks

[beaterdit]

But when it's up and running...
https://ride5dev.com/collections/cra...itanium-cranks

On the short list, hahaha!

[rideit]

Shit, what’s the difference in material costs between those and aluminum, $50? $75?
Is Ti significantly more expensive to machine and/or finish?
Not even welded, so no argon/oxygen free environs.
FFS

[Norseman]

Um, titanium stock is a LOT more expensive (~10-50x that of strong alu grades, depending on the shape) and is a lot harder to machine.

5dev cranks are a bargain considering the machining complexity, IMHO.

For reference, a 12" x 12" x .75" plate of grade 2 Ti is about $1450. The same dims in 6061 alu is $130.

[Touring_Sedan]

Broke a set of Next SLs, but those are notorious. Sold the warranty replacements and went with SIXC. That said, those Next SLs took a hell of a beating. Rode them upward of 4000 miles with lots of Enduro racing, hucking and just hard riding. I'm am light though, racing weight only around 140. Heavier than that now, also getting fat, ha.

Fuck, I went through 3 sets of Next SLs over about 10K miles. They were all warrantied, but what a fucking hassle. Never busted the SIXCs, even though I do weigh a bit more than a buck forty.

[jackstraw]

But when it's up and running...
https://ride5dev.com/collections/cra...itanium-cranks

My bud was just showing me some of the stuff they've made. His bro lives in SD and is friends with the 5dev guys. Cool stuff for sure.

[rideit]

I stand heavily corrected. My impressions are from tubing and not stock. Tubing is not that much more expensive, is it?

[basinbeater]

Damn. Those 5dev ti cranks are siiiiiiiick point sick on the sickter scale. I'm gonna go look into selling one of the kids.

[evdog]

A bunch of riders down here are running 5dev since they're local. A few of them have had them snap. They look cool, but I can't stop thinking of all the dust/dirt that's going to accumulate in the cutouts. No thanks....

[Norseman]

yeah they're way too rich for my jong ass and the big brands have reached a pretty common crank shape for a good reason (and XTR hollowtec is about the same weight, iirc)... my comment above only addresses the manufacturing effort.

[Andeh]

If you're going to spend a crazy amount of money on Ti cranks, just get eeWings. They are bombproof, and don't have gazillion nooks and crannies to collect dirt/rocks/grease.

[Norseman]

...manufacturing effort.

thinking about this a little more... I gotta backpedal (!) a bit and say that the forging operations for ballin hollow cranksets involve a shitload more time/engineering/cost than just setting up a silly pattern to machine on the 5-axis, despite the titanium raw stock being expensive as hell and requiring careful tool paths etc. The tooling for forgings is crazy.

I'd be curious to see pictures of failed 5dev titanium crank arms, if you have them, evdog.

[toast2266]

I'd be curious to see pictures of failed 5dev titanium crank arms, if you have them, evdog.

Just do a quick Google search. 5dev failures are pretty common. They just snap in half. There was a whole kerfluffle earlier this spring with some Instagram guy who snapped some and then got in an argument with the 5dev warranty department. Instagram guy was douchey, but it was definitely not a good look for 5dev.

[jono]

thinking about this a little more... I gotta backpedal (!) a bit and say that the forging operations for ballin hollow cranksets involve a shitload more time/engineering/cost than just setting up a silly pattern to machine on the 5-axis, despite the titanium raw stock being expensive as hell and requiring careful tool paths etc. The tooling for forgings is crazy.

I'd be curious to see pictures of failed 5dev titanium crank arms, if you have them, evdog.

Kinda piling on, but even before going hollow, aluminum usually outperforms Ti on stiffness to weight ratio in bending anyway.

I would have hoped fatigue strength would be the top justification for Ti cranks. After marketing, of course.

[ClarkleberryFinn]

I've just ordered a '23 Rockshox SDU coil shock to replace the Fox Float X shock on my Capra. Should I have ordered bushings too? Or are they usually included? Or can I use those currently on the bike/fox shock? Thanks!

[Roxtar]

Generally speaking, aluminum is stiffer by weight but has a very limited fatigue life. It doesn't do well with bending (7075 aluminum being the exception. It's a different beast).
Ti is less stiff but lasts forever. It has an amazing fatigue life and has the best bend-back ability of any metal. While not as stiff as aluminum it is far far stronger. It just doesn't break.
That's why it was developed for the aerospace industry.
That flexbility is also why Ti has historically been used primarily in hardtails. Ibis once built a FS Ti bike (The Bow-Ti) and it was a wet noodle.

[rideit]

I had a Moots Mootaineer FS bike waaay back in 2000. It was AMAZING in a straight line, but hot damn, once you stuffed that into a chunky turn at speed, hang on, Cowboy! It was a wild ride. I can’t even imagine a slo-mo video highlighting the deflection.

[Roxtar]

I had a Moots Mootaineer FS bike waaay back in 2000. It was AMAZING in a straight line, but hot damn, once you stuffed that into a chunky turn at speed, hang on, Cowboy! It was a wild ride. I can’t even imagine a slo-mo video highlighting the deflection.

Exactly but damn, Ti hardtails were the shit.
In 2001, at the 24 Hrs of Moab, after blowing the rear shock on my AMP B5 (for the nth time) my buddy lent me his Litespeed. It was amazing.

[Andeh]

I've just ordered a '23 Rockshox SDU coil shock to replace the Fox Float X shock on my Capra. Should I have ordered bushings too? Or are they usually included? Or can I use those currently on the bike/fox shock? Thanks!

It will include the little metal sleeves inside of the eyelet. If you want to use your Fox hardware, you'll need to press those out, remove the tan DU sleeves from the Fox, and press those in instead. Then install the o-rings, bushing, and end spacers from the Fox.

[Eluder]

I've just ordered a '23 Rockshox SDU coil shock to replace the Fox Float X shock on my Capra. Should I have ordered bushings too? Or are they usually included? Or can I use those currently on the bike/fox shock? Thanks!

Chances are the bushings need replacing anyway. You could use the spacer hardware and new fox bushings or just order new hardware that fits the bushings that are installed.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Wahoo bolt frame mount?

Right now I have my wahoo bar mount ziptied to my MTB frame on the top tube but way down by the seat tube. Has to be down there because the tube is narrower there. Nice and out of the way but I can't see the screen very easily. On the top tube up by the headset would be sweet. The area where the top tube and down tube meet is too thick for zipties to be practical. Do you think any of the extreme velcro products would be sturdy enough for hard trail/enduro abuse? Just put it directly on the back of the wahoo where it's flat and not use the twist mount at all....

[Andeh]

Wahoo bolt frame mount?

Right now I have my wahoo bar mount ziptied to my MTB frame on the top tube but way down by the seat tube. Has to be down there because the tube is narrower there. Nice and out of the way but I can't see the screen very easily. On the top tube up by the headset would be sweet. The area where the top tube and down tube meet is too thick for zipties to be practical. Do you think any of the extreme velcro products would be sturdy enough for hard trail/enduro abuse? Just put it directly on the back of the wahoo where it's flat and not use the twist mount at all....

I'm pretty sure I've got a 76 Projects stick-on one that plays nicely with a GG that I can send you for shipping. I prefer K-Edge stem spacer mounts myself.

Edit: this is the thing. I'll check when I get home this afternoon. https://us.76projects.com/products/e...43305374318831

[singlesline]

Why does wahoo require you to buy a tiny $10 piece of plastic+screw in order to attach a tether/leash to their computers?

Seems like it would have been easier to just mold a little slot/hole into the unit where you could cowhitch a tether...like every other device.

Especially since the one they sell isn't easily removable without unscrewing the plastic bit, and tiny screws into plastic will inevitably strip (and 9/10 times I use the device, I don't want/need a leash)

Wondering if there's somewhere I could drill a small hole without compromising the unit. Or maybe get a 3d-printed one like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4934286 where the slot looks smooth enough that you could snake a leash cord through there when needed without removing.

[VTskibum]

I have a rubber case on my Elemnt v2 and I just have a little cord looped around that. Not as secure as the screwed in one, but agreed that its a pretty stupid design compared to Garmin.