Ask the experts

[sf]

Anyone ever done a Hall lock modification to an AXS derailleur? Does it help resolve the weak clutch issue?

Which derailleur? My X01 feels a lot stronger than the GX upgrade kit I had on a different bike. Don’t know if it’s the same clutch or if some internals can be changes?

[sf]

I don't think you could say for sure the derailleurs in the same place, with the same jockey wheel sizes and spacing.

The transmission derailleur doesn't pivot on a hanger mount or have a b-limit adjustment so yeah the chain has to be a very specific length for it all to work, where any other derailleur has a little more room to fudge it. Non transmission, as long as the chain doesn't go slack in the hardest gear or rip the derailleur off in the easiest gear and you can get the b-limit adjusted relatively properly then it's probably fine. Which, I guess short answer is yes you could likely use transmission calculated chain length on a regular eagle drivetrain but you'd definitely want to check it on both ends of the cassette.

Thanks. Makes sense.

The app gave me the number of links I had on a slightly used chain, so it was tempting to see if the app could be used. But «the method» gave me 2-2,5 links overlap and when mounting it was too slack, so I guess you’re right

[beaterdit]

Which derailleur? My X01 feels a lot stronger than the GX upgrade kit I had on a different bike. Don’t know if it’s the same clutch or if some internals can be changes?

That may be true but my XO AXS is a lot weaker than my cabled XO Eagle derailleur and even cabled GX. I get a lot more chain slap vs. cabled XO for sure.

Anyone ever done a Hall lock modification to an AXS derailleur? Does it help resolve the weak clutch issue?

Never heard of this until now, gonna try to figure it out. As mentioned, the clutch on my XO AXS is noticeably weak. The chain slap is pretty annoying because I've taken measures, and everything else is whisper quiet, especially with Onyx hubs. It's pretty awesome to me to just hear the tires biting on the dirt.

[toast2266]

Which derailleur? My X01 feels a lot stronger than the GX upgrade kit I had on a different bike. Don’t know if it’s the same clutch or if some internals can be changes?

Which derailleur? My X01 feels a lot stronger than the GX upgrade kit I had on a different bike. Don’t know if it’s the same clutch or if some internals can be changes?

Curious as to any AXS derailleur. I've only run an XO AXS briefly - shifting was good, but the clutch was useless and chain management was a mess. I switched back to cabled XO1, which works fine in terms of the clutch, but my frame has shitty cable routing which leads to shitty shifting, so I'm back to investigating wireless. But I'm not gonna shell out for AXS unless I can find a way to improve the chain management. So I'm hoping someone has experimented with doing a hall lock on an AXS derailleur and can comment on whether it made things better.

Never heard of this until now, gonna try to figure it out. As mentioned, the clutch on my XO AXS is noticeably weak. The chain slap is pretty annoying because I've taken measures, and everything else is whisper quiet, especially with Onyx hubs. It's pretty awesome to me to just hear the tires biting on the dirt.

Nice - let me know what you figure out.

I believe Sram put weaker clutches in the AXS derailleurs, supposedly to improve battery life (so the motor isn't fighting a strong clutch on each shift). But it makes for a lot of chain slap, and at least for me, a lot of dropped chains.

[beaterdit]

I still run an MRP SXG on the Enduro bike like Dude in the video. Top and bottom guide, no idler. Never dropped a chain with it.

[toast2266]

I still run an MRP SXG on the Enduro bike like Dude in the video. Top and bottom guide, no idler. Never dropped a chain with it.

I've got a top and bottom guide too (they're stock on the Norco Range). Still dropped chains with the AXS derailleur - 3 times in a weekend. I've never dropped a chain with a cabled derailleur on that bike.

And dropping a chain with the guides sucks - I've gotta unbolt the guide to get the chain back on.

[rideit]

Anyone remember that contraption from the 90’s, that had an aluminum ‘arm’ that stuck out above and behind the derailluer, and attached to the pulley cage with a spring?
I can’t seem to find a reference to it anywhere, but it was definitely the first anti-chain-slap derailleur device..,

[hick]

Anyone remember that contraption from the 90’s, that had an aluminum ‘arm’ that stuck out above and behind the derailluer, and attached to the pulley cage with a spring?
I can’t seem to find a reference to it anywhere, but it was definitely the first anti-chain-salad derailleur device..,

You’re killing me, I can see it in my head but, but can’t for the life of me remember the name!


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[toast2266]

Anyone remember that contraption from the 90’s, that had an aluminum ‘arm’ that stuck out above and behind the derailluer, and attached to the pulley cage with a spring?
I can’t seem to find a reference to it anywhere, but it was definitely the first anti-chain-salad derailleur device..,

Bullet Brothers chain tensioner.

[rideit]

Thanks, that was driving me crazy.
I could remember the Bassworm, Rollamajig, etc, but not that!
Año purple version FTW

[beaterdit]

I've got a top and bottom guide too (they're stock on the Norco Range). Still dropped chains with the AXS derailleur - 3 times in a weekend. I've never dropped a chain with a cabled derailleur on that bike.

And dropping a chain with the guides sucks - I've gotta unbolt the guide to get the chain back on.

Yeah that really sucks. Does your Range have a lot of chainstay growth? The high pivot's not supposed to I think?

Anyone remember that contraption from the 90’s, that had an aluminum ‘arm’ that stuck out above and behind the derailluer, and attached to the pulley cage with a spring?
I can’t seem to find a reference to it anywhere, but it was definitely the first anti-chain-slap derailleur device..,

Whatever it was I had. May have helped a bit when new but the spring would get stretched out real quick for me, then it was useless.

[rideit]

I do remember a friend trying heavier springs…but yeah, like the Bassworm, little real utility out in the field.
But we didn’t know any better, and were willing to try new stuff, which was cool in a way.

[rideit]

Kind of a thread drift, but I would like to try tapping and threading where the cable housing enters my XTR/XT rear derailleur, and adding a barrel adjuster there.

But really I’m waiting for DI 3.

[toast2266]

Yeah that really sucks. Does your Range have a lot of chainstay growth? The high pivot's not supposed to I think?

Not a lot of growth between the idler and the cassette, but the cassette to chainring distance grows a lot. So the derailleur clutch definitely gets a workout.


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[beaterdit]

Gotcha that makes sense.

[Eluder]

Anyone have a wrist brace that they like. I don't want anything coming across the palm.

Old injury that sucks on long rides. Eventually I can't really use my thumb and struggle to shift... Trying to avoid electronic shifting.

[John_B]

Anyone have a wrist brace that they like. I don't want anything coming across the palm.

Old injury that sucks on long rides. Eventually I can't really use my thumb and struggle to shift... Trying to avoid electronic shifting.

I'm assuming you're likely looking for more of a wrist brace than this but this brace has worked well for me due to a chronic skiers thumb injury that flares up while biking and snowmobiling.

https://zamst.us/collections/thumb-s...ts/thumb-guard

[unitofstuff]

Went to swap some tires and discovered a crack in a rear rim and I'm trying to decide the best course of action.

• Source a new rim and pay someone to lace it up to the old hub?
• Find a used/take-off wheel/wheelset?
• Be an irresponsible asshole and use it as an excuse to buy a carbon wheelset?
• Ride it as is?
• Hit up old welder coworker(s) to repair?

I'm not exactly extreme, but I do like taking this bike through a bit of chunk at some amount of speed at ~200lbs so the possibility of failure is there.

[Eluder]

Went to swap some tires and discovered a crack in a rear rim and I'm trying to decide the best course of action.

• Source a new rim and pay someone to lace it up to the old hub?
• Find a used/take-off wheel/wheelset?
• Be an irresponsible asshole and use it as an excuse to buy a carbon wheelset?
• Ride it as is?
• Hit up old welder coworker(s) to repair?

I'm not exactly extreme, but I do like taking this bike through a bit of chunk at some amount of speed at ~200lbs so the possibility of failure is there.

Looks like an I9 1/1 hub in there. I would just relace with something a little beefier, unless you really want new wheels.

[unitofstuff]

Looks like an I9 1/1 hub in there. I would just relace with something a little beefier, unless you really want new wheels.

I bought this bike as a used demo, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the one who cracked the rim. I'd bet a same/equivalent replacement would do fine but the upgrade gremlin is always whispering.

[Wes Mantooth]

Is the general consensus still that it's good to learn on a hardtail as a new rider (cost savings aside)? Or have bikes gotten so absurdly good that someone should get on the path of least resistance? My gf recently got into mountain biking and now a lot of their friend group is getting interested in riding and coming to me for bike advice. I've always been a proponent of starting on a hardtail since you're forced to think a bit more about line choice, maintaining traction, and getting quick feedback on how the bike reacts to hitting various types of obstacles. But some of their other friends say getting a full suspension greatly increased their enjoyment and confidence. Obviously budget is the primary factor, but curious on the schools of thought between recommending they buy a decent hardtail with modern geo, ride it for a year or two, then upgrade vs putting a little more into a full suspension from the get go. I know this is obviously super subjective, I just want to set them up for the best intro to the sport since it's awesome they're getting into it on their own as a group vs getting sandbagged by dudes and hating it

[toast2266]

Is the general consensus still that it's good to learn on a hardtail as a new rider (cost savings aside)? Or have bikes gotten so absurdly good that someone should get on the path of least resistance? My gf recently got into mountain biking and now a lot of their friend group is getting interested in riding and coming to me for bike advice. I've always been a proponent of starting on a hardtail since you're forced to think a bit more about line choice, maintaining traction, and getting quick feedback on how the bike reacts to hitting various types of obstacles. But some of their other friends say getting a full suspension greatly increased their enjoyment and confidence. Obviously budget is the primary factor, but curious on the schools of thought between recommending they buy a decent hardtail with modern geo, ride it for a year or two, then upgrade vs putting a little more into a full suspension from the get go. I know this is obviously super subjective, I just want to set them up for the best intro to the sport since it's awesome they're getting into it on their own as a group vs getting sandbagged by dudes and hating it

I think it depends on what their realistic objective is.

Do they want to get competent enough that they can enjoy a spectrum of regular trails, but are generally unconcerned with getting "really good" (i.e. hitting bigger jumps and riding the most difficult trails with speed and confidence)? If so, just go with a full suspension.

If they want to get really good, a hardtail is a good tool. Especially when used for jumps and more technical riding. But riding a hardtail on the run of the mill ho-hum mostly smooth trail that tends to be popular these days won't do a ton to improve riding skills.

I think putting kids on hardtails is a good thing, as they seem to be more inclined to find the limits of what they can do on a bike. I don't mean to be sexist here, but most adult women I've seen that get into riding seem unconcerned with pushing their abilities, and mostly just want to get a fun ride in.

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[rideit]

Would you tell her to start skiing on skinny 200’s?

That philosophy might have merit for really young riders, but I just don’t think it’s applicable anymore. Smooth riders will find smooth lines, bashers will bash. If you look at the young riders at the pointy end of the sport, most of them likely have come up on high quality bikes capable of everything, park, technical, etc.

[XXX-er]

Thats the tele equivalent of " you need to learn tele on leather boots "

its like hittting your finger with a hammer ... it feels good when you stop

So recently I seen a bro at the bike area who doesnt even mtn bike all I ever seen him ride is a beach cruiser, he is on a used C-dale E-bike and he said to me " I think I got religion here "

" welcome to the dark side bro " which is just a joke really cuz the Rec BC trail sign sez " class 1 E-bike permitted " no class 2 or 3

edit: I think what/ how you have been recommending is called " mansplaining "

The thing with kids it is or was harder to find the bike altho I recently seen a post toddler kid with his coach on a 700$ spawn and he was really doing good cuz its WAY lighter

[Wes Mantooth]

I think it’s mostly in my head from receiving that advice over and over as a kid, so makes sense it’s more of a consideration for young riders vs new adults. But agreed with the idea it’s more for the rider looking to explore the limits of something so they can progress to the next thing. If the goal is just enjoyment and having a nice time why not get a tool that’s the most enjoyable. But I would think a hardtail with modern geo is prob more confidence inspiring than an older full suspension with a long stem and steep head angle, so it ultimately comes down to how much they want to spend on a bike