My Sub 5 lasted years between needing any bushings and pivots - and when it did, they were cheap and simple to fix.
My only 'reference' for multipivots os older Specialized's that seemed to eat them every few months, and cost a few bob and some time to replace.
How long do multi-pivot's last compared to single pivot?
This is a no brainer Matt - think of the cost of all the bearings. On the trance i had they were (iirc) £50 for a full set needed at least once a year. Prophet so far - 9 months and not a peep (1 shock bush changed)
Depends very much on the build quality of the frame (tiny differences in alignment can really muck things up), the size of the bearings, the design of the suspension and the type of riding you do.
Sorry, that wasn't particularly helpful, was it? 😉
IME the FSR design on the Spesh bikes is great for performance but very harsh on bearing/bushing life. My Hemlock is reasonably well adorned with bearings and bushings but I seem to have gotten the best part of 12 months out of a complete set. My single pivot bike ( Scott Strike ) is far less hungry on parts and if I had to make comparisons drawn on my own experiences, then single pivots win out in terms of longevity.
OK, so lets do a 'vs'
The buying options may be:
Prophet
Cube AMS
Zesty
MotoLite ML1(if insurance comes through before they sell a bargain)
ETS
Couple of left fielders: Brodie Loki or Transition Covert
My 04 Stumpy FSR only had 1 full set of bearings in 2000 miles. My Yeti 575 never had them changed in nearly as long, including 350 horrendously wet Welsh miles. Both did 2 or 3 shock bushes too.
Also, don't buy your bearings form bike suppliers. A Spesh kit of 10 was £45 (2 of one size and 4 each of another 2 sizes) but I got 10 of each for £43 delivered.....
I know the 'buy from a bearing place' trick, so that could reduce some of the cost - but bushings add up at £12-15 a pop...
I'd get another Orange 5 if i was you.
But i'm not, so it's your choice.
but bushings add up at £12-15 a pop...
Eh?
Shock bushes are a standard size DU bushing and cost £1 each. I bought a fitting tool and 8 bushes from a guy in the States for about £18, but the Dollar was a lot weaker then...
I'll have a look-see if he's still selling them
:o)
I'd get another Orange 5 if i was you.But i'm not, so it's your choice.
At £1800 with a load of deore all over it? Compared to a Cannondale thats £2-400 cheaper with better kit...
Sorry peter - the ones I used to buy for the Sub 5 every other year were 'top hat' shaped things and iirc were £12+
Ahh, OK. But even the top hat ones still rotate inside the same DU bush....
My 2005 Spesh Enduro and has never had any of the bearings replaced and it doesn't use bushings on the shock.
I think the key here is less about whether you have single pivot or multi pivot and more about how you clean your bike.
Using a high powered jet wash, like you get at most trail centres, will simply destroy any and all bearings if you aim them at the pivots.
The point about frame alignment is well made - poor alignment will increase bearing wear. I can't see how wear of the bush on the shock eyelet is affected by single/multi pivot.
To echo what others have already said, it's much more to do with quality rather than linkage design. A stiff, well built bike will need fewer bearing changes than a flexy, badly made one. Interupted seat tube designs do go through shock bushes (not pivots) quicker than other designs, but DU bushes are cheap. Often multi pivot cartridge bearing bikes need the bearings serviced rather than changed, and if you look after your bike the bearings ought to last a few years.
Stripped the back end on my BLT this weekend, first time in 12 months, 2nd time since i bought it. No noticeable bearing wear at all. Total of 2400miles on it now and it' has only ever needed the shock bush replacing the once. I only had to repack one bearing this time round....
You could say that with multiple pivots / bearings the load is shared over a greater number of them thus reducing wear
Dunno if this helps, but my SO had a Titus Switchblade the alignment was spot on so it needed 1 set of replacement bearings in 3 1/2 years of riding (only bike and it was ridden a lot).
The Spesh's I had on the other hand, killed bearing in a few months due to the crappy alignment/build quality.
Matt, i may have a deal on a loki, drop me a mail if you are interested.
Si
Matt,
I've got a 3 year old Motolite and I'm thinking I need to do some of the bearing for the second time. The swinglink bearings take a lot of stress and mine are just beginning to show signs of wear after a lot of use (last replaced about a year and a half ago). These are easy to do, but the main bearings and the HL bushings are trickier, though they seem pretty robust and need infrequent attention.
The lower shock bushing needs pretty regular attention (every 4/5 months?) but it's a 5 minute job.
Great bike.
The bearings on my Whyte E5 have a lifetime warranty, why would I want to worry about maintenance 🙂
I had the Stumpy FSR for about 2 years and they never needed any attention. Meta 5 is now of the same age, and again they're still perfect.
Si - YGM
Tell you waht though, a mate of mine had a Giant Trance and it ate bearings like I eat Weetabix. Pivots, hubs, BBs. Shocking.
Specialized - crappy alignment and build quality... You're joking right?
put nice bearings in and treat it right and they should last plenty long enough.
i think the speed of wear will be the same, but obviously your only buying 2 carts, not 10 each time they do go.
but then again, a nice multipivot does do what it does that bit better, so depends on your preferences.
I often wish ide gone for a nice simple SP orange 5 or something, until i get on the trance and wind it up a rocky climb
I know Olly - I borrowed a Brodie Loki and that was the same on technical climbs - where the Sub5 stalled/feedback/was not perfect, the Loki just rolled up it all with much more grip.
Not yet ridden a 5 or Prophet to see if a different pivot location makes a difference...
Seems like if I go the multi-pivot route, a careful choice of stiff, aligned frame is the way to go.
Just figure out what bearings they are (they're all standard parts) and order from bearingboys.co.uk, got all the bearings for my NRS for ~ £10. I did do the bearing replacement on the horst links though, which cost me £40 but now will be cheap to replace in future due to cart bearings obviously.
My old single pivot never got any maintenance, at all, ever, until I blew the shock. Ahem.