Ask the experts

[Huskier]

Endurance road frame from 2019. Built up myself, always felt a little clunky on the front end. Like my axle's loose or something. Top cap's torqued. Crownrace looks fine. Axle is...torqued. But now I'm noticing the clunk is actually some fore-aft play between steer tube and headset. Aside from the integrity of the headset and cups, anything else to check for troubleshooting purposes?

[toast2266]

Endurance road frame from 2019. Built up myself, always felt a little clunky on the front end. Like my axle's loose or something. Top cap's torqued. Crownrace looks fine. Axle is...torqued. But now I'm noticing the clunk is actually some fore-aft play between steer tube and headset. Aside from the integrity of the headset and cups, anything else to check for troubleshooting purposes?

Top of headset or bottom? Is the headset missing the compression wedge? Or sometimes there's a thin washer on top of the compression wedge. If that's missing, then whatever's above the wedge (usually the headset cover, but varies depending on headset) might be bottoming out on the upper race, which would mean the compression wedge isn't fully compressing and locking against the steerer.

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[mildbill.]

<p>

Endurance road frame from 2019. Built up myself, always felt a little clunky on the front end. Like my axle&#39;s loose or something. Top cap&#39;s torqued. Crownrace looks fine. Axle is...torqued. But now I&#39;m noticing the clunk is actually some fore-aft play between steer tube and headset. Aside from the integrity of the headset and cups, anything else to check for troubleshooting purposes?

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<p>
Same question for one of my kid&#39;s NICA team&#39;s loaner bikes that I foolishly agreed to work on before the season.</p>
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This particular bike has intact, decent condition non-cartridge bearings in the headset. I&#39;ve burnt a couple of hours trying to figure out what&#39;s going on. Can be tight enough to bind but still clunking. I&#39;m close to just donating a new headset into this bike...</p>
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Edited to add - I mocked it all up to try toast&#39;s spacer-related solution and then it looked so wacky I was like &quot;naaaah&quot; but now I&#39;m going to do it just as a test...</p>
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Edited again to add - clunk is at the bottom of the headset, very clearly.</p>

[toast2266]

^^^ if it's non cartridge bearings and clunking at the bottom, my guess is that the bearings are upside down. Otherwise, maybe something is mismatched (i.e. wrong bearings or wrong crown race). Unlikely other possibility is either the crown race or headset cup is cracked and/or the press fit is wallowed out.

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[mildbill.]

^^^ if it's non cartridge bearings and clunking at the bottom, my guess is that the bearings are upside down. Otherwise, maybe something is mismatched (i.e. wrong bearings or wrong crown race). Unlikely other possibility is either the crown race or headset cup is cracked and/or the press fit is wallowed out.

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I actually unsuccessfully ordered what I thought might have been the right crown race. Upside down bearings never crossed my mind. Will try that next time I feel like getting frustrated. Failing that, headset donation.

[muted reborn]

Upside down bearings never crossed my mind. Will try that next time I feel like getting frustrated. Failing that, headset donation.

On each bearing there is a &#39;right side up&quot; marking with an arrow you have to look for. Make sure they are all pointed up.

[toast2266]

^^^ Not on a non-cartridge bearing (I don't think? I guess it's been a while since I've had one). Balls in a retainer point towards the headtube.

If they're upside down, the retainer will contact the race before the balls and things will be weird. If the bikes been ridden with it like that for long, the retainer is likely trashed.

Pic below is a threaded headset, but it's the same basic layout with threadless.



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[mildbill.]

<p>
Sounds good. Since I can actually post right now, here&rsquo;s my latest conundrum: I just blew up the hub on my muscle bike again (v1 alloy sentinel / cascade link) again - I&rsquo;ve basically been destroying a rotating cast of shitty aluminum rear wheels every 18 mos (oem novatec / wtb, race face aeffect, sun duroc 35!etc) and it is getting a little ridiculous. Terminal failures have been grenading freehubs but usually these wheels have had multiple broken spokes, cracked eyelets and look like potato chips by the time the freehubs go. I&rsquo;m generally all set on front wheels since usually the crappy aluminum purchases are wheelsets.</p>
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Since I got my EBIKE I pretty much only ride my muscle bike for NICA coaching / riding w my kid and weeknight neighborhood &ldquo;eat your veggies&rdquo; rides (which are mostly steep surfers - wheel damage comes from compressions / g-outs / small doubles and drops, virtually NO roots and rocks). However thiscurrent muscle bike riding regimen is still breaking spokes and blowing up hubs (2x hubs since I got the EBIKE.)</p>
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Going forward I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll ever do more than 1 or 2 alpine / travel / big rides a season on the muscle bike. For this reason I just last week made the decision to keep the sentinel instead of jumping at one of the many amazing carbon bike deals available - reason being whatever muscle bike I get, it still won&rsquo;t have a motor and will feel slow as shit so I&#39;m just gonna do the minimum to keep the sentinel going (and a lot of the models I was looking at came with hubs I&rsquo;ve destroyed before anyway).</p>
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Other salient points:</p>
<p>
- EBIKE has a hope pro4 DH wheelset on it, and I like hope hubs and have a complement of bearings / pawls / etc</p>
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- I have some deals available to me on a carbon brand that is just a rebadging shop but offers a lifetime warranty on the carbon</p>
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- I&rsquo;m 6&rsquo;5&rdquo; / 250# and don&rsquo;t believe in chasing weight savings on bikes but do believe that tire rolling resistance actually makes a difference</p>
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So do I:</p>
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A. buy a hope pro4 / stans flow mk4 rear wheel for $500</p>
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B. Buy a hope pro5 / carbon rebadger enduro wheel for $700</p>
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C. Buy a hope pro5 / carbon rebadger enduro wheelset for $1200</p>
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D. Keep buying shitty aluminum wheels every couple of years for $300</p>
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I am leaning towards B as the best combo of long term survivability without going as far down the bike jewelry path as option C. But since it seems hub standards seem to have largely stabilized I could see the justification for C long term. (My phone capitalizes EBIKE because I enter it as lots of peoples&rsquo; last names in my contacts, I&rsquo;m not some kind of psycho).</p>

[El Chupacabra]

Novatec and RF Aeffect rear hubs are notoriously failure prone - - I've had issues with both. I'm not familiar with the other one you mentioned. I don't tend to break much on bikes, but freehubs are the weak point for me.

IMHO get something known to be highly reliable for a rear hub - - DT 350, Hadley, Hope, Onyx come to mind.

I've had really good experience with the Nukeproof Horizon V2 wheels - - they used to be available cheap, but tariffs, import duties, and Chain Reaction Cycles business issues probably make these less attractive unless you can locate someone's take off set in the US.

[Andeh]

Reserve 30 HD AL rims have the same lifetime warranty as their carbon stuff, and you can get a complete wheelset with those laced to DT 350s for $700. I've got a set of those that I've been running for about a year and a half, had some very loud rim hits on them, and all I can find is 1 barely perceptible dent (like maybe the thickness of a sheet of paper.). I've retensioned the spokes a little bit a few times (that's one area carbon does better), but the value of these is pretty awesome.

[mildbill.]

<p>
Hmm good thought - Mike&#39;s had the carbons on sale for $1200 and I thougth about it but was too slow on the draw.</p>
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I get deals on Rovals but exceed their &quot;275lb system weight limit&quot; so I am concerned about warranty claims.</p>
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DT350s are one of the good DTs, right? 370 is the failure prone one?</p>

[Andeh]

Yeah, DT 350 is the AK47 of hubs, especially with 18 or 36t ratchets in it.

[forty]

fyi newer dt370s are also ratchet, think they changed 2022ish, frequently found on mid level oem builds so can be had cheapo, just as solid as the 350s but dust shield is little different

[jackstraw]

Reserve 30 HD AL rims have the same lifetime warranty as their carbon stuff, and you can get a complete wheelset with those laced to DT 350s for $700. I've got a set of those that I've been running for about a year and a half, had some very loud rim hits on them, and all I can find is 1 barely perceptible dent (like maybe the thickness of a sheet of paper.). I've retensioned the spokes a little bit a few times (that's one area carbon does better), but the value of these is pretty awesome.

Yeah, I was talking to a couple guys in the SC factory and the one guy has the Reserve aluminum on one of his bikes an loves them. Said he was in no hurry to swap over to carbon on that bike. He has both carbon and alum...obviously as an employee.

And I didn't know the 370 got away from pawls. That hub sucked. I almost smoked it on my first ride. I bitched to SC on how tf could you put such a shit hub on a reserve carbon wheel and they sent me a 350. They knew they fd up

[dcpnz]

Shigura brake question:

My very old magura marta lever is leaking but the frame uses IS mount caliper and a PM caliper on the PM adapter I have doesn’t seem to line up right on the rotor so considering trying Shigura to keep bike alive a bit longer.

Currently sorting thru the online chaff about which barb, olive and oil to use and think I’ve got that sorted - shimano olive, whatever shimano barb fits the ID of the hose I’m reusing (probably bh59), either oil but maybe better using shimano.

But my question - do I want a shimano servo-wave lever or not?
Either m4100 non servo-wave or deore m6100 servo-wave are available for a price I can justify to phuk around with this.

Pros/cons of either?
Thx



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[muted reborn]

I found two full faces that finally fit. I dont know much about FF helmets. Its for bike park laps. Choices are IXS Trigger which is made for enduro but is DH rated, and the Smith Hardline which seems to me is a proper DH helmet. Since pro enduro racers go stupid fast how is the IXS not good enough when I go much slower than them? Anyone heard of a story of someone hitting a tree at high speed with an enduro FF helmet and they shoulda had a proper full face

I get the better safe than sorry attitude but Im wondering if there is some serious overcompensation with me and a proper DH helmet compared to, well, another DH rated helmet like the IXS. Shouldnt I be fine? Im not fast, on super steep and tech stuff i go slow on and simply tip-over when I fall, Im not prone to falling although I am a pretty average jumper and wonder when my time is up on trying to hit some bigger jumps. If I thought I was the next Ronan Dunne Id get the Smith of course. Just wondering if plenty people crash on enduro FF and it&#39;s fine?

[toast2266]

Helmet ratings are just a minimum bar. The fact that they passed the same test does not mean they protect the same. A lot of the pro dh guys are in moto helmets. If you're not pedaling in it, I see no good reason to go with a lightweight enduro helmet.

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[jm2e]

So, is DT370 the new 350? In the past I stayed away from the 370.


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[jackstraw]

Helmet ratings are just a minimum bar. The fact that they passed the same test does not mean they protect the same. A lot of the pro dh guys are in moto helmets. If you're not pedaling in it, I see no good reason to go with a lightweight enduro helmet.

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Yeah, my shop had a few different ff helmets and they were significantly different in their view on protection. I actually came out with a...I don't even know what it's called...but like a 3/4 helmet that wraps around your cheeks a bit. It was weight thing as my neck is tweaked. The FF was about the same maybe lighter, but the shop said the one I bought is actually more protective. Granted, you could smash your face easier, but I typically hit the side or back of my head in a crash and this helmet protects better for that.

[Andeh]

@jm2e - when I looked, the new 370 is similar to the old 350, but *slightly* different. Like it is possible to run it as either pawls or ratchets. I think the freehub was different too, because in order to make it changeable, they had to put the seal in a different spot. To further confuse things, there's now both the DT 350 and 350 DEG (which refers to being high POE). Those 2 are not interchangeable. The non-DEG version is similar to but not quite the same as the old 240 - I think different bearings and a tiny bit less machining on the hub shell. My go-to is the non-DEG 350, because high POE is dumb unless you're doing trials shit with lots of racheting of the cranks.

[jackstraw]

Yeah, I like the quick engagement. I bumped my DT350 up from the stock 36. Made a huge difference on punchy climbs for me.

[buttahflake]

Plus it sounds fucking sick, loud hubs save lives

[Dee Hubbs]

DTs hub line up use to be simple and all the parts were interchangeable. Their star ratchet patent ran out in 2020 and since them they worked on new designs and models, making the lineup somewhat confusing. Especially for part interchangeability.
There different freehubs are now:
3 pawl (370)
Ratchet LN (370)
Ratchet (350)
Ratchet DEG (aka oversized ratchet) (350 and 240)
Ratchet EXP (aka single sided ratchet) (350 and 240 and 180)
Hubs
370 is their OEM hub, can come with a 3 pawl free hub or a star ratchet. The 3 pawl can be upgraded with star ratchet. This free hub model is the LN Freehub, and is not compatible with 350-240-180 free hubs/hub shells.
350 is the workhorse hub. Traditional star ratchet free hub. (now same quality as 240s of the past). Ratchet Freehub in 18, 36, 54
240 is the premium hub. with Ratchet EXP or Ratchet DEG
180 is the exotic hub with ceramic bearings in the hub and ceramic bearings also in the free hub with a Ratchet EXP free hub design.

[jackstraw]

Yah, my Blur came with a 180. So far so good. Lighter I guess.

[Andeh]

Regarding POE, I do run the 54t ratchets on all 3 wheelsets. I feel like that's the best compromise of engagement while not exacerbating pedal kick / chain tug. I've run Hydras before in the past and a 54t ratchet gives me less foot fatigue riding the same trails. I'd probably run 36t on a purely downhill bike though, and in hindsight I'd be probably be ok with it on my enduro/park bike. For the ebikes, I appreciate the 54t for technical climbs as others have mentioned. Even with a full power ebike motor, I've never had any issues with chipping teeth on the genuine DT 54t ratchets.